Sittie Djalia Turabin-Hataman at the 3rd MTWF at Shariff Kabungsuan

Challenges to the Moro Women. A lecture delivered by Sittie Djalia Turabin-Hataman

What are your ideas on Muslim women or Moro women? Many said that women are numerous than men; inferior of man; and that if you allow to let your husband marry another, you will go to heaven.

But these are just assumptions. Must wrong assumptions should not be challenge simply because it is socially accepted and has become a practice?

What does this verse mean?Meaning of Q 4:34: Examples
• YUSUFALI: Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means.
• PICKTHAL: Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women).
• SHAKIR: Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property


Re-reading the Holy Qur’an
Who decides how this has to be read? And how do we know that?
• God? Prophet?
• Imams? Juristic community?
• Feminists? Human rights lawyers
• Men? Women?
• Muslims? Non-Muslims?
• Muslim community?
• A sub-group within the Muslim community? Who?

Some of the assumptions of this group on gender
Women are ‘inferior’ to men:
• they are more emotional than rational;
• they cannot make decisions in a cool and rational manner;
• they do not have the same level of intelligence as men
• they are physically weaker than men
• Women cannot excel men in most areas
• They are objects to be protected (at home, within the veil, by separation, from others’ gaze)
• They are sources of fitnah (their beauty distracts men) and therefore should be kept at a distance.
• Women are the source of honour: their mistakes are problematic than those of men (example: cases of rape, sexual misconduct; honour killing)

Framework for the interpretation of the ethical/legal content of the Qur’an
• Is there any need for a new framework?
– Perhaps there is. What is this need?
• Can a framework like this be totally divorced from the tradition?
– Probably not. If so, why not?
– Continuity, reasonableness, authoritativeness

Key ideas of this framework
• Emphasizing the socio-historical context of the Revelation
• Distinguishing between the ideal and what was possible at the time of revelation
• Reading the text keeping an eye on the social justice objectives
• Understanding the hierarchical nature of Qur’anic values
• Cautious use of some of the early reports
• Moving from concrete cases to general principles and from general principles to specific laws
• Highlighting women’s voices, concerns
2- Distinguishing between the ideal and what was possible at the time of revelation
• The Qur’an is not just a book of law; it called itself a guide for humankind
• the ethico-legal Qur’anic instructions functioned at two levels: the ‘ideal’ and the ‘what was possible at the time’.
• The ideal was what believers were to aim for. This ideal might or might not be achieved during the time of the revelation.
• Example: polygamy

3-Reading the text keeping an eye on the social justice objectives
• The ethico-legal content of the Qur’an was to be read in the light of the ‘social justice’ objectives of the Qur’an
• In any understanding of the Qur’an at any period, therefore, important concepts associated with social justice, such as cooperation, unity of humankind, freedom from all forms of exploitation—social, spiritual, political and economic— should be used to understand it

4-Understanding of the hierarchical nature of Qur’anic values
• Most important and prominent values to be given priority over others
• Examples

TAFSIR - Qur’anic exegesis, clarification or interpretation
• 2 Methods:
– Tahlili – chronological analysis from the first surah to the final one, following the - focus on the text itself

– Mawdu-I – tafsir which analyzes one subject by collecting whole verses speaking the same topic, then relating between one verse to another, then making a conclusion from the perspective of the Qur’an itself

Retelling the Sunnah
• Sunnah is an amorphous corpus of reports about the Prophet’s actions and history (sirah) and his statements (hadiths), and also includes numerous reports about the Companions of the Prophet.
• The established dogma in Islam does not award the Sunnah the same level of authenticity or immutability as the Qur’an

Some Rules in Accepting the Authenticity of Sunnah:
• A text with a greater number of transmitters outweighs a text with a smaller number of transmitters
• A text whose transmitter is well-known for his or her trustworthiness outweighs a text whose transmitter is not well-known for this quality
• A text whose transmitter is more known for his or her intelligence, knowledge, piety, diligence or meticulousness should be given more weight than a transmitter who is less known for these qualities
• A text whose transmitter who, at the time of transmitting a text, depended more on his memory from a teacher carries more weight than a text whose transmitter is known to have depended more on written material without a teacher

• A text whose transmitter is known to have acted consistently with what he or she transmitted outweighs a text whose transmitter is known to have acted contrary to the dictates of his or her tranmission
• A text whose transmitter had direct experience of that which the text is about outweighs a text whose transmitter has not had this experience
• A text whose transmitter is known to have had more demanding standards in accepting reports outweighs a text whose transmitter is known to have had less demanding standards
• A text whose transmitter was personally involved in the event reported should be given more weight than a text whose transmitter is reporting with no first hand knowledge. The closer to the actual experience, the more weight should be given

• A text whose transmitter became a Muslim earlier in life outweighs a text whose transmitter became a Muslim later in life. Similarly, a text whose transmitter was closer to the Prophet during his life or who was one of the more prominent Companions should be given more weight
• A text whose transmitter is more versed in fiqh outweighs a text whose transmitter is less versed in fiqh

Revalidating the Shari’ah
• Shari’ah (literally means “the way”) is God’s law as an abstraction
- it is God’s will in an ideal and abstract fashion, therefore it is always fair, just and equitable
Fiqh – (literally means “the understanding”)
- product of the human attempt to understand God’s will
- attempt at reaching the ideals and purposes of Shari’ah

• By the 8th century, the most serious and formidable candidate has emerged as a coherent and systematic contender to the vacuum left by the Prophet’s death.
• Shari’ah – represented by a specialized body of professionals known as the fuqaha or jurists

Jurisprudential Schools:
• Hanafi
• Maliki
• Shafi’I
• Hanbali
• Ja’fari
• Zaydi
• Iba’di
• Isma’ili

• When the Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur (d.158/775) offered to adopt al-Muwatta of Imam Malik b. Anas as the uniform law of the land, Imam Malik refused, arguing that there were many established juristic practices in different areas of the Muslim world and there was no legitimate reason to impose legal uniformity upon the various territories.
• “I believe that my opinions are correct but I am cognizant of the fact that my opinions may be wrong. I also believe that the opinions of my opponents are wrong but I am cognizant of the fact that they may be correct.” –Imam Abu Hanifa

• “Muslims strive to discover the Divine Will but no one has the authority to lay an exclusive claim to it” – Khaled Abou El Fadl, Speaking in God’s Name
• Every mujtahid (a person who applies original analysis and independent judgement to legal issues) is correct. If the mujtahid is correct in his or her ijtihad (the exercise of independent or original analysis on legal issues) he or she receives two bounties, and if he or she is wrong, he or she receives one.
• “There is no compulsion in religion”

Islam and the Moro Women
• Hijab and Jilbab
“O ye who believe! Enter not the Prophet’s houses, until leave is given you, for a meal (and then) not (so early as) to wait for its preparation; but when ye are invited, enter; and when ye have taken your meal, disperse, without seeking familiar talk.
Such behavior annoys the Prophet: he is ashamed to dismiss you, but God is not ashamed to tell you the truth. And when ye ask (his wives) for anything ye want, ask them from behind the screen: that makes for greater purity for your hearts and for theirs…” – Surah al-Ahzab/33:53 - verse of Hijab

“ in the Qur’an it was simply a piece of protocol that applied only to the Prophet’s wives…”
In fact the veil was not designated to degrade the Prophet’s wives but was a symbol of their superior status. After his death, his wives became powerful people; they were respected authorities on religious matters and were frequently consulted about Muhammad’s practice or opinions. It seems that later other women became jealous of their status and demanded that they should be allowed to wear the veil too. Thus, many of the women who first took the veil saw it as a symbol of power and influence.

• Polygamy
“if you fear that you will not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two, or three or four…” The verse goes on to say “If you fear that you will not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one.” - Holy Qur’an, 4:3

“but you will never be able to deal justly between wives even if it is your ardent desire.” - Holy Qur’an,4:129


Approaches of the women’s rights movements to the Qur’an
• I. Legalistic
– following established legalistic framework
• II. Non-Legalistic
– Choose what is OK/reject what is not OK
– Re-read by emphasising the situational character of the Qur’an
– Critique of hadith (as a product of the generations after the Prophet)
– Rejection of both Qur’an and Sunnah teachings that are not in line with their interest
– Exploration of approaches that do not reject Qur’an and Sunnah but more liberal/progressive


• “God is Great! O Prophet, you have seen us, the people of Quraysh, we were a peoplewho controlled our women. Then, we came to Medina, and we found a people who are controlled by their women. Our women (Mecca) started learning and imitating their women. One day, I became mad with my wife and she started arguing with me. When I chided her for talking back to me, she said, ‘Why do you think I could not argue with you! By God, the wives of the Prophet argue with him, and one of them even abandons him from morning until night.’ I told her ‘Whoever does this is truly shameless!’ How do they know that God might not become angered because of the hurt caused to the Prophet, and then they would be truly ruined!”- Umar b. al-Khattab

• In response, Umar reports,
“The Prophet Smiled…..”

“ the best among you is he who is best in character.. And the best in character is he who is best to women…” - Prophet Mohammad