Aligarh Muslim University
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The co-founder of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Zakia Soman, was overwhelmed by the response of students and teachers, women and men, to her call for radical change in the mind-set of Indian Muslims
When I received an invite from the Aligah Muslim University Teachers Association for a keynote address on 8th March International Women’s Day I was truly overwhelmed. It invoked so many emotions in me; I was both excited and apprehensive at the same time. The significance of a historic academic institution such as AMU is tremendous. But the apprehension in my mind was about how a talk on gender justice in Islam would be received by the community there. I was tentative as to what must be the perception about Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan and the work we have been doing. On reaching Aligarh, being face-to-face with gutsy women faculty members was reassuring.
I am happy to say that the meeting turned out to be one of the most fulfilling and exhilarating interactions I have had. I addressed two meetings; the morning one at the Women’s’ College auditorium at the historic Abdullah Hall and another one at the Teachers’ Club. Following is a brief account of the two interactions.
The first meeting was scheduled for 10.30 a.m. The hall became jam-packed as we started with a welcome by the vice-principal professor Iffat Ara followed by introductory remarks by professor Shadab Bano from the history department. My salute to Shadab, the moving force behind the programme.
I began by saying how Indian Muslims who are the country’s largest minority live in poverty, socio-economic backwardness and religious conservatism. I shared some key findings of the Sachar Committee about low educational status and lack of jobs. I emphasised the need to make elected governments accountable towards its Constitutional obligation towards enabling the inclusion of minorities in the socio-economic processes.
I also elaborated as to how this exclusion gets exacerbated by the threat from right-wing Hindutva forces who dream of a Hindu Rashtra as opposed to our Constitution whereby we are a secular democratic republic where all citizens are equal. But we at the BMMA hold broadly two categories responsible for the all-round exclusion of Muslims. While we seek accountability from the state we must also seek accountability from the so-called community leadership for this failure. And this brings us to the question of the double exclusion of women; as citizens and as women followers of Islam.
The conduct of a Muslim should correspond to the values of kindness, compassion, justice and wisdom which are the core values of Islam. Any conduct contrary to this is not Islamic. Please, let not anyone tell you anything other than this: any behavior, any act, any practice, any idea that does not measure up to your personal sense of justice, kindness and compassion should be resisted as un-Islamic.
I am no scholar but in my simple understanding the message of social justice and human rights is the core message of Islam which I believe was revolutionary 1400 years ago. Again in my understanding as an ordinary person, this message is taken forward through the values of kindness, compassion, justice and wisdom which are the core values of the religion of Islam.
The conduct of a Muslim should correspond to these values and any conduct contrary to this is not Islamic. Please, let not anyone tell you anything other than this: any behavior, any act, any practice, any idea that does not measure up to your personal sense of justice, kindness and compassion should be resisted and as un-Islamic.
You are all students and some of us here are faculty members. We are all taken up by our pursuits and may or may not have the time and the means to go very deep into all religious issues. But we must read ourselves, we can read good tarjumas (translations) and we must equally read good tafsirs (commentaries) as there is lot of diversity of opinion in the way the Quran has been interpreted.
And we as empowered Muslims have the choice to choose the commentaries that we want to follow. And there is no obligation to follow the exegesis – of which there are very many – written by patriarchal and conservative scholars who have imposed their own orthodox notions over the Quranic teachings. Remember, it must conform to your sense of justice, kindness and compassion and Allah wants you to exercise your wisdom while reading any translation or interpretation.
A brief look at the characterization of women in the Quran as well as a reading of women characters in the life of the Prophet will tell you that men and women are equal in the eyes of Allah. Allah is just and fair and let no man or woman tell you anything otherwise.
Let me recall here aspects from the life of Bibi Khadija, the first wife of Prophet Mohammed. If we look at her in modern terms, I must say she was equivalent to what we call the chairperson of a multi-national company. She employed large number of staff and her business empire covered far off lands up to Syria in the north and Yemen in the South.
She must have been an able governance expert to be presiding over such as an empire. She must be extremely courageous and resolute in her personal life to get married to a much younger person after being widowed. And yet, why is the fact not being highlighted that Bibi Khadija, a woman was the first human being to embrace Muslim after the Prophet. Why is this fact not dominating the narratives about our religion? Is it because the patriarchal minds do not think this aspect important?
Let us also briefly look at the persona of Hazrat Aisha. Again, if we think in today’s terms she combines the qualities of a compassionate social leader, a military strategist, an astute diplomat and a fearless human being. Today the AAP government is being credited for being pro-people because they carried out a referendum to know the minds of citizens of Delhi. Hazrat Aisha held an elaborate referendum, held consultations and negotiations involving all key players spread across a vast geography when there was a threat from the enemy army. She saw to it that views and opinions of every section of society were sought and nobody was excluded. Then how are we women being excluded from society today? Is this exclusion Islamic? Certainly not. We all need to stand up and demand our rightful place as equal human beings and equal Muslims as Allah wants us to.
Throughout my talk the girls clapped vigorously whenever they agreed with something and wanted others to know it. There were many comments and questions by girls that followed the talk. They asked key questions such as, “Why can’t we have women read and interpret the Quran?” They were agitated about triple talaq. If it is not sanctioned by the Quran why was it permitted in our society? Some girls suggested banning of the barbaric practice of halala.
The question then arises as to how come our religion gave us equal rights 1400 years ago and yet we have not become equal? Subsequent to the departure of the Prophet what kind of vested interests took over and began a systematic distortion of the message needs to be understood. How did inhuman treatment of women become the norm is a question we must ask.
The incidence of un-Quranic practices such as triple talaq and halala continue in our society uncontrolled and unchecked. This is a mockery of all values and principles that we cherish. These violations can stop only if we stand up and empower ourselves as Muslim women. We need to read the Quran and understand the message of Allah directly for ourselves. We need to demand a comprehensive reform in Muslim personal law to curb ill practices of triple talaq and polygamy.
There was a huge applause when I concluded. Throughout my talk the girls clapped vigorously whenever they agreed with something and wanted others to know it. There were many comments and questions by girls that followed the talk. They asked key questions such as, “Why can’t we have women read and interpret the Quran?” They were agitated about triple talaq. If it is not sanctioned by the Quran why was it permitted in our society? Some girls suggested banning of the barbaric practice of halala.
A young faculty member was agitated over why a woman owning a home or a piece of land is a rare occurrence in our society despite Quranic injunctions about women’s share in property. One student opined that more and more of us should train and equip ourselves to fight injustice in society. They wanted to know more about Islamic feminism and how they can join the movement.
The second meeting at the Teachers’ Club was attended by men and women faculty members, research scholars, Aligarh citizens. The media was also present. The meeting was chaired by the president of AMUTA, professor Mujahid Baig who called for equal rights for women in his opening remarks.
I began by saying that since everybody present was well informed I will speak broadly about what ails the Indian Muslims today. I went on to list the issues faced by the community and how the government as well as the leadership had not done much to resolve anything. I asked a direct question to the community leadership about whether they take responsibility for this continuous marginalisation since they are the ones who have been claiming to represent all the 15 crore of us.
I compared the effective handling of the post-Kandhamal communal violence scenario by the leaders of the Christian community as against our own mishandling in Gujarat, Muzaffarnagar and so many other places. I asked whether our leaders truly believed in justice and equality or was it just something to be conveniently invoked while talking to the government as Muslims.
I then went on to the subject of wilful exclusion of women from all spheres of life in our community. I asked what Muslim leaders have done for women’s equality in society. And since they have not done anything, is it not high time we allowed newer people – women and men – to take up the leadership. And I called for a rejection of these so-called leaders.
I dwelt at some length on the Shah Bano case and asked: How can our religion be in danger if a 65-year-old divorced woman is given maintenance which is her Quranic right? I went on to say that nothing has changed since 1986 and talked about how in open violation of the Quranic injunctions ills such as triple talaq, polygamy and halala are still taking place in our society.
I emphasised the need for codification of the Muslim personal law based on the Quranic framework just like so many Muslim countries have already done. I asked: Why do we have to always follow the lowest common denominator of existing Muslim societies? I called for rejecting the Wahhabi brand of religion and instead portrayed a gender-just and humanist face of Islam.
Rather than Saudi Arabia we should follow progressive models such as Tunisia, Indonesia, Morocco etc., I said. I also said that leaving it to so-called scholars would mean continued injustice as the scholars have not spoken out against the violations of Quranic injunctions pertaining to women’s rights in marriage, family and society.
No scholar can claim that only his fraternity is tasked with understanding and interpreting Islam because our religion has no place for middlemen. Plus that would be Brahmanic and unacceptable. I emphasised the need for voices from academic communities to support the reform movement and overall movement for gender justice in today’s lived Islam. I said I was sorry if my words hurt someone’s feelings but this is the truth as prevalent in our Muslim society today.
Yet again, to my very pleasant surprise there was an overwhelming support to what I said judging by the comments and questions that followed. One young academic called for more numbers of women scholars to address the issues of gender justice. Another called for a kind of listing down of needs of women in our society and a plan to address those.
One scholar called for special attention to the plight of women during and post communal riots. One participant said that it was high time the hegemony of patriarchal bodies such as personal law board is ended. There was reiteration of the need to read and interpret the Quran in a gender-just framework.
There was a discussion on how women qazis and women scholars could be the way forward.
The meeting ended with Dr Ashraf Malik, joint secretary, AMUTA proposing a vote of thanks. While doing this he emphasised the need for extension of equal rights to women in marriage and family.
All in all, for me it was a truly fulfilling Women’s Day at Aligarh.