Can a Woman be an Imam?
Debating Form and Function in Muslim Women’s Leadership*
Ingrid Mattson
ISNA Vice President
One day We shall call all people according to their Imams. Whoever is given his book in his right hand will read it and will not be subject to the slightest injustice. But whoever was blind in this world will be blind in the next and completely astray from the path. (Qur’an 17:71)
Political leadership, in the sense of state power, is not the concern of this study; rather, we will attempt to formulate a framework for discussing religious leadership in the American Muslim community, as it affects women in particular. This distinction between political and religious leadership is not unnatural to Islamic societies, despite the common wisdom that there is no separation between “church and state” in Islam. In fact, throughout most of Islamic history, there was an identifiable class of religious scholars who placed significance on maintaining (at least the appearance of) independence from political authorities. i These religious scholars, the ‘ulama, were joined in guiding the Muslim community by spiritual leaders (“shaykhs”—Sufi or otherwise), in addition to a variety of religious professionals: imams, khatibs (preachers), Qur’an reciters, mu’adhdhins (prayer callers), spiritual healers and others.
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Posted on Sunday, December 11, 2005
Hospital Chaplaincy and the Knowledge of Hearts - What on earth is a chaplain? And what is a Muslim chaplain?
Rabia Harris
This is a question that presents itself forcefully through Clinical Pastoral Education, and perhaps more forcefully in hospital chaplaincy than in some other contexts. In the hospital, there is a clear difference between being a chaplain and being an imam (though the functions may overlap), and between being a chaplain and being an `alim (though the functions may overlap). Hospital patients only occasionally need ritual observances or practical advice from us when we come into attendance; they almost never need learned opinion—or else they need opinion that is outside our competence. Finding out what they do need from us was a great experience for me, and helped my own religious development in surprising ways.
I came to Islam from a very secular intercultural Christian-Jewish family, so like most born Muslims, I didn’t grow up with any exposure to chaplains. I entered the Hartford Seminary Islamic Chaplaincy program not in order to “become a chaplain,” but because I was excited by the idea of a new complementary approach to formal Muslim religious education, one that might open new horizons for women. Little did I know what I was actually going to get myself into when I started my unit of Clinical Pastoral Education, or CPE.
Interestingly enough, my training director, or supervisor, wasn’t about to tell me what I was getting myself into, either. Right from the first interview, I knew I was entering unknown and peculiar territory. John wanted me to decide what I was going to learn! That was a real puzzlement. I didn’t have the faintest idea what CPE had to teach, so deciding what I was going to be taught, via a “learning contract,” seemed absurd. But since no one was going to lay the course out for me, I took a swing at laying it out myself, as required.
I decided that my goal was to find out what the whole business was about. Define a chaplain. Define a Muslim chaplain. See if I can become one.
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Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005
VISIONARY LEADERSHIP
Vision, Communication, Empowerment, and Discipline
Louay Safi
Leadership is, arguably, the most important and complex act in human life. Leadership is often perceived as a position of power and authority endowed on particular individuals by organizations and governments.
While power and authority are obvious manifestations of the act of leadership, leadership involves much more than the exercise of power and authority. To lead is essentially to move ahead of others; to guide and to show the way; and to be willing to withstand friction, resistance, and uncertainty, often experienced by those who move ahead of others and advance into higher grounds and uncharted territories.
Leadership is, evidently, one of the most elusive concepts and is exceedingly difficult to pin down, as it continues to manifest itself in individuals who possess different qualities and styles. This has given rise to the contingency theory of leadership. According to this theory, leadership hinges more on the circumstances surrounding the act of leaders, rather than any specific set of traits or skills, or particular leadership styles. Simply put, contingency theory argues that it is the circumstance in which people find themselves is make particular traits or styles more effective than others. Hence, what might be considered useful traits or styles under certain circumstance may turn out to be unhelpful under another.
Contingency theory of leadership underscore an important fact, which we will highlight further below: traits and styles do not by themselves give rise to leadership unless they are bought to bear on the challenges and difficulties facing a particular group of people. Traits, qualities, and styles are, nonetheless, important aspects of understanding leadership, and have, therefore, always constitute, since time immemorial, the key to examining the act of leadership.
Abu Ja’far al Mansur, the founder of the ‘Abbasid state, posed, for one, the leadership question to some of his confidants:
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Posted on Sunday, August 07, 2005
American Muslims Have a 'Special Obligation'
An American Muslim leader asks: Who has the greatest duty to stop violence committed by Muslims in the name of Islam? Muslims
By Ingrid Mattson
Vice President, Islamic Society of North America
The terrorist attack on Sept. 11th exacerbated a double-bind American Muslims have been feeling for some time. So often, it seems, we have to apologize for reprehensible actions committed by Muslims in the name of Islam. We tell other Americans, “People who do these things (oppression of women, persecution of religious minorities, terrorism) have distorted the 'true' Islam.”
And so often we have to tell other Muslims throughout the world that America is not as bad as it appears. We say, “These policies (support for oppressive governments, enforcement of sanctions responsible for the deaths almost 1 million Iraqi children, vetoing any criticism of Israel at the United Nations) contradict the 'true' values of America.”
But frankly, American Muslims have generally been more critical of injustices committed by the American government than of injustices committed by Muslims. This has to change.
For the last few years, I have been speaking publicly in Muslim forums against the injustice of the Taliban. This criticism of a self-styled Muslim regime has not always been well-received. Some Muslims have felt that public criticism of the Taliban harms Muslim solidarity. Others have questioned my motives, suggesting that I am more interested in serving a feminist agenda than an Islamic one. My answer to the apologists has always been--who has the greatest duty to stop the oppression of Muslims committed by other Muslims in the name of Islam? The answer, obviously, is Muslims.
I have not previously spoken about suicide attacks committed by Muslims in the name of Islam. I did not avoid the subject--it simply did not cross my mind as a priority among the many issues I felt needed to be addressed. This was a gross oversight. I should have asked myself, Who has the greatest duty to stop violence committed by Muslims against innocent non-Muslims in the name of Islam? The answer, obviously, is Muslims.
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Posted on Friday, August 05, 2005
LAW, RELIGION AND THE PROPHETIC METHOD OF SOCIAL CHANGE
Jawdat Said
Translated by Afra Jalabi
This article was reprinted by permission of the Journal of Law and Religion
I. Introduction
We live in a world in which four fifths of its population live in frustration while the other fifth lives in fear. The United Nations, our world’s “figleaf,” does not hide the shame of humanity but rather scandalizes humanity’s malaise. It is troubling that the League of Nations and the United Nations were born after two world wars. Humanity’s unity should come as a natural birth and not as the result of a caesarian section, i.e., through violent global wars. This is reminiscent of the ages of epidemics. Then, because of ignorance about the causes behind these illnesses, plagues swept through communities, leaving millions of dead behind. Yet, after technology made it possible for us to see smaller forms of life and medicine brought us a better understanding of germs, communities became better equipped to halt disease and heal the sufferers. If a country now is devastated by an epidemic, we blame it on the lack of sufficient hygiene. So too, the wars that erupt here and there are caused by ignorance of the intellectual organisms that infect communities with hate and influence people to commit atrocities. In today’s world, relying on science, we concern ourselves with preventing germ warfare while sheltering the intellectual viruses that destroy us: our intellectual foods are still polluted. We cannot afford to continue to be confused or ignorant about these invasive germs.
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Posted on Saturday, July 30, 2005
PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT
Amr Abdullah
The purpose of this paper is to discuss potential principles for interpersonal dispute resolution models within an Islamic context. Such a task requires an Islamic researcher to walk a fine line in order to avoid falling in one of two methodological traps. The first trap is to draw upon western literature on conflict analysis and resolution without sufficient consideration of whether and how that literature may be applied in an Islamic setting. The subtle assumptions underlying most of the conflict intervention models developed in the west have gone undetected, until recently. 1 The other trap is to embark upon a review of the existing Islamic literature relevant to conflict. This approach leads directly to entrapment in circles of legalistic interpretations developed centuries ago, which lack the spirit of conflict resolution as a movement for social change and an interdisciplinary field of research.
However, to accomplish the task of framing appropriate principles, there is no escape from combining the two approaches, while developing the tools necessary to avoid the shortcomings of each. In this regard, this work takes an approach that is appropriately cognizant of the advances made in the west in the field of conflict analysis and resolution. These advances need not be dismissed merely because of concern about cultural appropriateness of western models for Islamic settings. Instead, western literature should be reviewed carefully in order to extract principles, models and techniques which could properly inform an Islamic model; and exclude or set limitations those which are bound by specific western cultural conditions.
This article, while informed by various western-based models of conflict intervention and resolution, 2 is mainly grounded into two Islamic foundations. First, this article argues that historical misuses, abuses and misinterpretations of Islamic sources have diluted the strong emphasis on justice, equality and freedom in Islam as a value system. These centuries-long practices have been so enmeshed with the original messages of Islam that unjust, abusive institutions and structures now appear to be part of the Islamic heritage. Therefore, for an Islamic conflict intervention model to be of benefit to Muslim communities and individuals, its major principle should be to restore to Islam its principles and values of justice, equality and freedom.
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Posted on Saturday, July 30, 2005
Gender Equity in Islam
Dr. Jamal Badawi
I. Introduction & Methodology
When dealing with the Islamic perspective of any topic, there should be a clear distinction between the normative teachings of Islam and the diverse cultural practices among Muslims, which may or may not be consistent with them. The focus of this paper is the normative teachings of Islam as the criteria to judge Muslim practices and evaluate their compliance with Islam. In identifying what is "Islamic" it is necessary to make a distinction between the primary sources of Islam (the Qur'an and the Sunnah) and legal opinions of scholars on specific issues, which may vary and be influenced by their times, circumstances, and cultures. Such opinions and verdicts do not enjoy the infallibility accorded to the primary and revelatory sources. Furthermore, interpretation of the primary sources should consider, among other things:
(a) The context of any text in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. This includes the general context of Islam, its teachings, its world view, and the context of the surah and section thereof.
(b) The occasion of the revelation, which may shed light on its meanings.
(c) The role of the Sunnah in explaining and defining the meaning of the Qur'anic text.
This paper is a brief review of the position and role of woman in society from an Islamic perspective. The topic is divided into spiritual, economic, social, and political aspects.
II. The Spiritual Aspect
According to the Qur'an, men and women have the same spiritual human nature:
O mankind: Reverence your Guardian Lord Who created you from a single person created of like nature his mate and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women; reverence Allah through Whom you demand your mutual (rights) and (reverence) the wombs (that bore you): for Allah ever watches over you. (Qur'an 4:1)
It is He who created you from a single person and made his mate of like nature in order that he might dwell with her (in love). When they are united she bears a light burden and carries it about (unnoticed). When she grows heavy they both pray to Allah their Lord (saying): "If You give us a goodly child we vow we shall (ever) be grateful." (Qur'an 7:189)
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Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005
Finding the Creamy Center: Challenges to Youth
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Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005
The Axis of Good: Muslims Building Alliances with Other Communities of Faith
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Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005
Toward Women Friendly Mosques
Louay Safi
The Islamic Social Services Association and Woman in Islam have released a guide underlining a set of principles rooted in Islamic sources that outlines the rights of Muslim women to have full access to the masjid, and calling on Muslim leaders to privilege Islamic principles and values over cultural habits and traditions. The guide is entitled “Women Friendly Mosques and Community Centers: Working Together to Reclaim Our Heritage.”
The guide presents a serious attempt to deal with an issue that requires an immediate attention by Muslim communities: the place of women in the masjid and the community. I personally faced the issue for the first time two decades ago when a Muslim Student Association board member objected to the inclusion of women in an executive meeting. He based his position in Islamic traditions, but his argument was found lacking by everyone else on the board. The meeting went on without him but with the two sisters.
The point of view that was expressed by the MSA board member alluded to above continued to be well represented over the years within the Muslim community, particularly among immigrants who grew up in societies were women did not take an active role in social life and community development. The point of view that was hostile to the presence of women in the masjid gained more following in many Islamic centers throughout North America, as the community grew more dependent on imams and scholars educated in universities that provide a narrow Islamic education.
Hammered by Islamic opinions apparently rooted in Islamic sources, many masjids started to erect barriers and drop curtains between the men and women areas. Eventually, many masjids designated a separate and secluded area for Muslim women. The strict seclusion often mimicked arrangements adopted by masjids in Muslim countries, and was tolerated by women who grew up in a condition of seclusion.
American-born Muslim women, including women grew up in immigrant families, find it increasingly difficult to accept the regime of seclusion in the masjid that cut them off from education and decision making. Some have chosen to stay away and find alternative ways to acquire Islamic education and engage in social services. Others went back to understand Islamic sources and to find out that there is no ground for the regime of seclusion.
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Posted on Sunday, June 26, 2005