Here are some important passages from the book "Men in Charge?" by Ziba Mir-Husseini: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Muslim legal tradition does not treat women and men equally. At the root of this discrimination lies the assumption that men are superior to women. Qiwamah (guardianship), as constructed in Islamic classical jurisprudence (fiqh) and reflected in present-day laws and practices, continues to play a role in institutionalizing and justifying discrimination against women. Quranic verse 4:34 is often invoked as the textual basis for this male authority. It reads “Men are qawwamun [protectors/maintainers] in relation to women, according to what God has favored some over the others and according to what they spend from their wealth. Righteous women are qanitat [obedient], guarding the unseen according to what they spend…. Those women whose nushuz [rebellion] you fear, admonish them, and abandon them in bed, and adribuhunna [strike them]….” It should be noted that any translation of the above Arabic words advocates certain interpretation. The translations provided above show the way classical Muslim jurists chose to interpret these words. For these jurists, men’s superiority over women was a given, and it was in accordance with a conception of justice that accepted slavery and patriarchy, and so they naturally interpreted the verse in this light. Ironically, in relation to marriage, only verse 4:34 and no other relevant Quranic verses has become the foundation for the legal construction of marriage. This juristic construct of qawwamun has provided the rationale for legal disparities to this day such as men’s right to polygamy and the ban on women being judges or political leaders. This qiwamah concept is the lynchpin of the edifice of the patriarchal model of family in Islamic law (fiqh). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Avicenna (980-1037 AD) was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age. Though he was more of a philosopher than a physician, he has been described as the father of early modern medicine. Of the 450 works he is known to have written, around 240 have survived, including 150 on philosophy and 40 on medicine.
Avicenna’s book “The Cannon of Medicine” remained a medical authority for centuries. It set the standards of medicine in Medieval Europe and the Islamic world and was used as a standard medical textbook through the 18th century in Europe. As a philosopher, his major summa, the Shifa (Cure), had a decisive impact upon European scholasticism and especially Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon and Duns Scotus. Mulla Mohammad Bagher Majlesi (1629-1699 AD) has been called the precursor to Khomeini and Iran’s current ruling clerics. [1] During the Safavid dynasty era (1501-1736 AD) Shiism was established as the religion of Iran to differentiate the country from Ottoman Turkey, giving tremendous power to the Shia clerics. [2] It was at this time that Majlesi began to exert unprecedented political influence. Majlesi’s books, in particular his Hilyat al-Muttaqin, became well-known in Iran for the first 10 years of the Islamic Republic (1979). Although Majlisi voices nothing more than his own opinion and the dominant cultural patriarchy of his time, he cleverly attributes his opinions to either the Imams or Prophet Mohammad. [2] Surprisingly very few have questioned his sources. His work contains bizarre propositions and his 17th century view on women and their role in society was misogynistic, many of which have been adopted by Shiite clergy up to this day. For example, he wrote that a trait required for a good wife is that she should be zalil (weak or passive)—a woman who can be dominated. She should also be sexually obedient and “listen to whatever her husband demands and whenever he asks for sex she must agree.” [3] Like many orthodox Muslims he opposed Sufi mystics and Schools of Philosophy, saying that seeking of knowledge is a “a waste of one’s life” and worse would “lead to apostasy and heresy.” Majlesi wrote numerous Shia religious text which have been enthusiastically revived and sanctioned by the current Iranian regime. [4] It’s unfortunate that many clerics and scholars continue to rely on such outdated religious materials. And like their patriarchal fathers remain skillful at taking advantage of people’s religious sentiments. [2] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sources:
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AuthorSaghi (Sasha) Archives
May 2019
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