Is Male a Degree above Female in Status? Part 7

The Problem of Patriarchal Interpretation

Those who argue that there is nothing inherently wrong in the mainstream orthodox Islamic interpretation of gender issues, may kindly consider the following enigmas:

· Why in the Muslim world there is general conception that women are inferior to men, having lesser rights and privileges than men?

· In the Quran, polygamy is not prescribed for satisfaction of lust of male but linked with a special situation of society and that being to provide assistance to the widowed, or orphaned and destitute women (4:3). Why in many part of the Muslim world, men enjoy absolute freedom to keep more than one wife without observing the Quranic norms of equality? How come one half of the verse 4:3 that said a man can have up to four wives becomes codified into law, but the other half of the same verse (“if you fear you cannot deal justly with women , then marry only one”) that promotes monogamy is unheard of? How could jurists ignore the fact that the verse (4:3) goes on to say “this will be best for you to prevent you from doing injustice.”

· Why Muslim men may divorce their wives at will, as a “Triple Talaq”, while women may only disengage themselves from their husbands by returning the dower to them with the tedious judicial process? While one finds universal condemnation of the practice of ‘Triple Talaq’ as reprehensible and, even anti-Quranic, all Sunni schools of law consider it legally effective. Only the Jafari Shia School considers a triple divorce pronounced as once to be invalid and non-binding. How can these phenomena be explained?

· Why in the Shia world ‘Mutah’ marriage is still defended, while the Sunni world denies it?

· Why it is that, except for the Hanafi, the Schools (Madhab) agree that the father who acts as a ‘wali’ may force his virgin daughter to enter marriage? How could these schools have avoided the dictates of the Quran (4:19) in this instance?

· While the Quran says absolutely nothing about Eve and does not talk about the creation of women from man and it talks about human creation in absolutely egalitarian terms; the majority of Muslims believe the Genesis story. What might be the reason?

· Why the Muslim world is dragging behind in the acceptance of women’s electoral participation?

· Why it is that in a certain Arab state, women are not allowed to drive cars and why their clerics can justify it in religious terms?

· Why many Muslim scholars object to the holding of leadership as improper for women, despite the fact the Quran uses no terms to imply that leadership is inappropriate for her? The Quranic story of Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba, celebrates both of her political and religious practices and extols her leadership for her capacity to fulfill the requirements of the office, the purity of her faith and independent judgments (27:23-44). Why in the Muslim world a general perception in prevailing that woman are defective, not intelligent enough to run government and lead nation, in spite of the fact that Quran contradicts it?

· Why in the Muslim world blood-money is fixed as half for woman than that of male, despite the absence of any clear scriptural authority?

· Why there is a general conception prevailing in the Muslim world that testimony of one man is equivalent to that of two, contrary to the evidence of the Quran? Why don’t Muslim scholars take a firm stand to those discriminatory laws implemented in the name of Islam? Would the problem be solved merely by repeating the slogan that Islam has elevated the status of woman? Why Muslim media is generally silent in raising the conscience of the people on the human rights abuses happening in the name of Islam?