Gabriel Haddad fears Kwanzaa

I promised this response to Haddad’s piece two months ago. Good thing I make all my plans God willing.

Traditional authorities such as Haddad are most comfortable with women who are relatively passive transmitters of knowledge. Historically, women have had some access to education in the religious sciences but ideally they should not be educated as public interpreters or community leaders on par with men. They cannot be jurists, judges, or theologians. Because interpretations are only legitimate when they are produced from within the traditional usul structure, women have few legitimate means to actively engage the tradition. I suppose I should offer a solid argument that women have a right to interpret our sources alongside men. There is no need. Female authority in Islam is growing even in conservative circles. More women are being educated in the traditional sciences and a number of these women are being placed in authoritative public positions.

Haddad sees active women scholars as a sign of the coming apocalypse and Wadud as the handmaiden of the dajjal. Haddad’s apocalyptic tone and racist language in the piece nicely illustrate the enormity of the threat felt by some traditionalists in response to the growth of female leadership in Islam. In Haddad’s dystopic vision, Wadud’s crimethink will produce mixed-gender congregational prayers that are nothing short of orgies held by Feminists in mini-skirts who are drunk on Black culture. In addition to reciting the Fatiha in Swahili for Kwanzaa, these women will have “Malt Liquor” on their breath. He further accuses Wadud of being a lackey to White Empire, thus insinuating that she is a house you-know-what. No wonder he is panicked. Not only will women overthrow men, but Blacks will be valued more than Arabs.

Haddad’s hysterical imaginings aside, Wadud is a real threat to male-centered traditional authority. She will not concede to male-centered authority, methods, or restraints at the cost of covering over the fact of women’s marginalization in Muslim communities. Nearly every conservative authority who responded to her March 18th, 2005 prayer has acknowledged the sorry state of women’s situation and the need for change. Ustadha Zaynab Ansari wrote a response for the archly conservative Sunni Path website in which she critiques woman-led prayer, but ends the piece with an entreaty for change within the bounds of tradition. She writes in one part, “I believe that it is time that Muslim women reclaim their rights from within Islam. I humbly suggest that our scholars be more aware of the sensitivity of women's issues. The Progressive Muslims raise some important points, and while we may not accept their philosophy, we do ourselves a disservice by dismissing legitimate concerns that affect Muslim women today.” Conservative Muslim organizations responded to the furor over Wadud's prayer with a “Woman-Friendly Mosque Initiative.“ Without question, Wadud’s work has played a crucial role in forcing the conversation about women’s leadership in Islam out into the open.

As that conversation takes place, we’ve seen traditionally oriented scholars encourage women’s leadership and we've seen female authority grow. Why no apocalypse? Ingrid Mattson explains in her essay, “Can a Woman be an Imam,” that the form of Islamic leadership traditionally follows its function. She uses the example of women’s mosques in China to show that female leadership is no more innovative than any other cultural adaptation made for the sake of facilitating traditional Muslim social and religious norms. In keeping with tradition then, Morocco recently approved of fifty women as murshidat who will give the Friday congregational sermons and do pastoral work in communities country-wide. Here in North America, women are getting doctoral degrees through secular institutions in the traditional sciences supplemented by study with Muslim scholars abroad. They are publishing in academic journals, the popular press, and on the web in all areas of the religious sciences. Accepted or not, their analyses are becoming a part of Islamic intellectual history. Conservative organizations like the Zaytuna Institute encourage the participation of women in scholarly life and have three female professors on staff including Ustadha Shamira Chothia who teaches Islamic jurisprudence, Qur’an commentary, and Qur’an recitation. These are small but significant gains to the growth of female authority within traditional boundaries. I do not see traditional scholars widely permitting women-led mixed-gender congregational prayers any time soon, but the history of interpretation takes time to unfold. As Shaykh Muhammad Abdel Ghani Shamaa said, “Perhaps the current circumstances do not allow women to lead men in prayer, but this will not last for long and if you wait for a hundred years or less you will see that things will change.” Haddad should not be afraid. The tradition has always been able to make sense of the world as it changes. If it could not, then it would not have its source in the divine.