A lot of times it’s presented to critics that “we had women scholars too!” “We had women teachers too!”
Well then, where are their books and theories, and are they even comparably influential to those of the many, many male scholars whose books and theories define traditional Islam?
It’s important to note that the feminist concept is not to deny that some woman existed in the sphere of Islamic matters throughout history. In fact they, just like others, often use the several examples we have from history to show the acceptability and importance of women’s involvement in society and even in academics. They know there were women teachers.
The idea isn’t that no women have ever been involved. The idea is that traditional interpretation is largely and nearly entirely based on the premises defined by males, and is interpreted through a patriarchal lens. If the women of the past as well as the men of the past showed no objection or restricted their opinions to those of their shaykhs before them, then they may have very well been doing so in the name of tradition just like us, who are taught that anything besides tradition is anti-Islam and against salvation. The feminist interpretation is often not according to traditionalism, and so it’s understandable (and obvious) that traditionalists would disagree with them. But to say that they have no credibility just because they aren’t adhering to tradition is a very problematic idea. It says that no one except those specifically trained to regurgitate the same rhetoric are qualified to give any rational or academic opinion. It’s circular.
And it’s also problematic to think that even if (supposedly) absolutely no women of the past showed differing interpretations, then that becomes proof that the feminist interpretations of today are null.

They’re not “afraid” of tradition, they disagree with it, or at least parts of it. You could say the fearful people are actually the ones who just stubbornly stick to the same exact rhetoric no matter what type of reasoning is presented to them. That sounds a lot more like traditionalism to me than it does anything else.
Traditionalism doesn’t allow them to present the theories core to their message. That’s the whole point. Why would someone engage in traditionalism if their very theory isn’t traditionalist in the first place?

Who are you to say they have zero training and are ruining the very core of the religion? What gives you the right to make such an accusation? The people who say that are the very traditionalists themselves, the same ones who insist that only their way and only their passed along custom is the possible correct way. What makes Tariq Ramadan more credible than feminist Muslim academics? They have similar backgrounds, so what makes his training and his method more acceptable than the rest? Is it simply that he brings the least differing view with regard to traditionalism? That’s what it sounds like.

I think your concern for the situation is appreciated, but the accusations can easily be returned to you and the rest of traditionalists:

-that the traditionalists interpret the Quran out the false sense that traditionalism is the only pure interpretation of religion.
– that maybe it’s because you just can’t accept that it’s actually traditionalism that calls for the total submission to and “fitting in” to the a generational custom of norm, not being born in a certain age and region.
– that perhaps you don’t see as problematic the rulings that clearly make women caged and inferior because of your own upbringing and impounded cult-like custom of traditionalism.
– that the giving of a handful of rights to women in a certain age is no proof of the absolute truth of a tradition that built over time.
– that many advents of women’s rights have been witnessed besides that of the traditionalist interpretation of 1,400 year old Arabian society, and the interpretations of granted “rights” that we have today are a result of the human construct of religious methodologies.
-that Muslim countries still today suffer worse woman’s oppression and discrimination than in the West, sometimes due to misogynistic Arab culture, but also sometimes indeed due to “orthodox” religious interpretation. Denial of that is your option to choose, but it doesn’t suffocate reality.
– that respecting a mother as a mother is no excuse to then restrict her adult dignity in many, many other areas. Respect in one area is no excuse for disrespect in another.
– that people who fight for woman’s rights are not stupid to think that the female gender is absolutely equal to that of the male gender. If they believed such, then there would be no need for human language and biology to distinguish between the two with separate words. To bring up biology and bio-psychology (which by the way, I wouldn’t be surprised if those same feminist activists are actually more aware of than traditionalist communities) as a means of disproving the notion that woman deserve fair treatment is only a manner of diverting the main issue into nuanced nonsense.
– that non-Muslim engaging in horrible practices is no excuse for Muslims to now believe that their ways are okay. People who fight for woman’s rights don’t ignore what is happening with non-Muslims.
– and finally, that “the reason why feminist muslims exist in the first place is because of our failure as an ummah to embody the principles of the Quran and Sunnah which honor woman” is the same claim that feminist Muslims have, only that your interpretations of the “principles of Quran and sunnah” differ as a result of differing human constructs of theological and historical sciences.

Best regards.

Mashallah, I love reading all the commentary posted here. Great job guys! It’s about time issues concerning this topic arise and are ‘openly’ discussed. From all the feedback that’s going on out there, I think it’s safe to say that there is a mutual agreement, amongst us all, that all scholars, who wish to critique Islam, should do it whilst keeping the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)in mind. Both forms should be and remain the basic foundation within the context of any scholarly critique in order to attain a sound Islamic reasoning/conclusion in regards to any issue (especially of that within a Muslim community) that’s being discussed/critiqued.

I agree with what everyone has to say here. I, myself, for one, became confused at what the intention of the Arabic scholar was, at first. I thought it was to dismiss the works of these women, because they offer a different approach than that of the traditionalists’ perspectives and interpretations of the Qur’an, Sunnah, hadith, and fiqh. When in fact, he’s trying to show that the women have very little to no background knowledge in any of the four areas mentioned (in the previous sentence), and, thus, Muslims -who’re reading their works- should be aware of this.

Other reasons of why I was confused about the Author’s intent are:
1. Basically and quite obviously, the title. It’s quite vague/broad, and with the added effect that the author is an Arab male really tells one otherwise. [no offense]
2. No quotes and sources/bibliography. No alternative ‘feminist’ Muslim scholars that branch away from the cliche of Muslim women critiquing Islam, and that have a secular studies/degree background. For any paper to be considered academically objective it needs to have the former, as well as, a sound argument that presents multifaceted sides to it – for a more thorough analyzable discourse.

I appreciate that the author critiqued on male ‘Islamic-scholars’, as well, whom are commonly found in the Eastern societies, and from what I’m witnessing, are the common cause of a lot of confusion regarding Islamic principles, practices and values – especially concerning that of women, in the same light (some of them are even supported by their respective governments). These ‘scholars’ are obviously the root cause of a lot of extremist ideologies (that are un-Islamic), let alone, the mentalities and practices centered about misogyny, sexism and sexuality. And, unfortunately, are being continually practiced by a majority of first generation immigrants in the West. Hence you’ve got this whole generation gap going on – but that’s a whole another topic in of itself.

Furthermore, as hinted previously from some of our wonderful commentators, is understanding where these women are coming from; what personal experiences have lead these women to distrust the teachings and legitimacy of the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW)? Since some of these women are knowledgeable in history and religious studies, don’t they know that Islam has given women their desired/needed rights way before that of the first wave of the feminist movement emerged during the Enlightenment/Scientific Revolution era in European history? As well as, the Islamic definition of the ‘bent’ rib is different than that produced by the Bible? And if not, why not?

Thus, we come to an apparent conclusion, that Muslim women never needed feminist ideologies nor Feminism in its entirety, because Islam has liberated women (and all those that were treated as 2nd class citizens) from their respective patriarchal-based cultural paradigm. And this is still true to this day – although, we arrogantly call it the ‘modern’ age of human civilization; as if it has perfected/diagnosed the flaws from the past. Last but not least, is that we shouldn’t dismiss ideologies, but rather critique them. And this is needed in the case of Feminism (or even pop-culture); where it encompasses a whole array of issues, such as how the 2nd wave of feminism differed from that of the 1st wave of feminism, and why is it so popular amongst female Muslim scholars. And despite the common myths centering about Feminism – the fact of the matter is, is that secular, dare I say, global political/economical society needs this ‘radical’ (believe it or not, but just like Islam, it’s negatively stigmatized, as well) intervention; because, non-Muslim women (as well as children, abused men/woman and children, and immigrants) find it as a primary means for themselves when addressing their rights and disadvantaged situations at the political/economical level[such as the over-sexualization of young women in the media, the selling of children, and the growing Porn industry]. Fortunately, Subhanallah, as Muslims, these issues are important, and Islam has already provided us the means and solutions to them; and from my own personal experiences, when I was studying about Feminism and the global issues concerning women, I became more proud of the fact that I was Muslim, and actually evolved a deeper understanding and appreciation of Islam. So, it depends on how one utilizes/prioritizes their knowledge, as well. All knowledge is needed – there’s no need to censor material – we’re not the Vatican. It’s just that, as evident by the women (and men) the scholar critiqued on, (Allahu-Aalam) not every Muslim youth has the opportunity to live and learn in/near a Muslim practicing society that is based on the foundations of the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) – where a variety of humanely-based topics are discussed and critiqued in an intellectual and practical manner.

Jazzakumu-Allahu Khairan. Wa Salamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.

P.S. The dude that commented on equality – is that Allah (SWT) created men and women equally before him. Thus, the concept of equality must have a logical context to it, and that just because one is different, doesn’t mean that they’re not entitled to equality. The issue of women and men not being equal because of their physiological/biological differences or commonly noted as the ‘battle between the sexes’ is irrelevant to the whole concept of equality defined in Islam. These differences, in fact, are constructed as a basis for Judeo-Christian cultures and their westernized patriarchal institutions to treat women as second class citizens; and that is why the 1st wave of Feminism sprung about in Europe – but that’s a whole another story. [Allah knows best.]

Wa ‘alaykum as-salaam. Granted, addressing some or all of these points would have made the paper more valuable. But did you derive any benefit nonetheless?

Ever gap left is an opportunity for subsequent researchers.

I don’t know. When people don’t justify their claims, it is impossible to assess them and they lose most of their force except to cast doubts.

I came across this article on twitter, and was very interested in reading it. Unfortunately I found it lacking in several respects (I read the full pdf as well).

1. Where are the citations and quotes? People can’t make sense of this critique without a clear understanding of what’s being discussed. I could follow it because I’ve read some of these authors’ work, but what about others?

2. Dr. Asma Barlas has written quite passionately and extensively on Qur’anic hermeneutics; I was surprised her work was not addressed.

3. ‘Feminists’ were blamed for having “complete indifference to the principles of Qur’anic exegesis and rules of interpretation”, but nowhere are these ‘principles’ explained and defended.

4. When “our” “Arabic-Islamic heritage” is mentioned, I’m not sure what that means. Actually, many so-called feminists question this heritage for it’s cultural baggage and historical bias toward males. This important point was not addressed.

5. As another commenter mentioned, there was more “Western vs Islamic” framing than was really necessary.

Zai, Salaam. Really appreciated your comments and I am in agreement with your points of view. Where we differ, and we shall all differ on points, I do not agree with your conclusions on the various authors mentioned. I hold that you are overreaching to say all seek to demolish and change everything–that is far from the truth in my humble opinion. Since I have read their books and have spoken to some in person, I do not believe all of their opinions hold this goal to demolish and destroy everything.

Yes, they do cover an expanse of ideas and ideals, and so do more progressive Islamic scholars like Khalid Abu El-Fadl. Do you hold his scholarship seeks to demolish and change everything? Do you think he is less qualified than Tariq Ramadan? By the way, I don’t care for his ideas and ideals either.)

Back to my point, yes, we definitely need a movement away from dependence upon the ancient as proof of “right.” The shift means changing the parameters of our focus away from the culture and times. We glean deeper understanding of Quran when we work with the themes that help humankind–alleviates suffering rather than adding to it by demanding the layers of thoughts composed at a time where our current world could not be understood.

So I ask you for your opinion as to what level of change is needed and how much of a shift is required in the middle ground you propose? Is it just enough for what you want to see (a gradual) change, revamping by time and cultural biases, and giving ourselves a little more wiggle room. Or should we seek a thorough review and making the middle ground inclusive in scope–this requires the field to be very broad and very deep in subject matter–and to come with new conclusions that expand beyond the limitations of the past. This is the only way informed alternative opinions can be debated and some conclusion promoted for our times and culture. Otherwise, we continue to play in the orthodox sandbox and remain susceptible to the perils of their “bait and switch” routine you spoke about in your comments.

We are going to either use Quran as first source and leave the dinosaur tracks of ahadeeth and lots of fiqh–even if they appear to be “authentic” sunnah that harms Muslims–and choose to see a better way. It is very easy to stay on their tracks and get railroaded back to the dinosaur tracks dressed up as spiritual transportation into our different future? Yeah, right, not on my watch.

Appreciate your comments and hope you reply to my concerns. Salaam.