Differentiating between Baseless and Legitimate Charges of Female Oppression
By Bassam ZawadiWhat counts as being “oppressed” in Islam?
You are oppressed when a right you are entitled to is unjustly taken from you. You are not oppressed simply because you do not get what you want.
Let us take a look at women, for example.
A woman would be oppressed if her husband physically abused her. A woman counts as oppressed if she is denied basic education. A woman is considered oppressed if she is not offered security and decent accommodation (agreed upon in advance before getting married). A woman would be oppressed if she is insulted or degraded in any manner that the Shariah shuns (not merely what she subjectively perceives to be insulting to her standards), etc. Oppression of women exists, and it is real. There is no denying that.
A woman is not oppressed if she does not like the idea of her needing a wali to get married. A woman is not oppressed if she does not have the right to marry a non-Muslim. A woman is not oppressed if she is demanded to wear hijab, receives half the inheritance of her siblings, does not have a chance of becoming a Caliph, does not have equal divorcing powers and marital authorities as her husband, etc.
Hence, we have three categories of women:
1) A woman demanding her Islamically legislated rights. Examples include battered and sexually harassed women demanding an immediate halt to their oppression, women who are forbidden basic education demanding that this be changed, etc.
2) A woman demanding more rights than what she is Islamically entitled to, yet it is not haram for her to demand them. These are debatable and could vary from society to era, and maqasid plays a critical role in determining whether granting these rights to women is permitted or recommended.
3) A woman demanding more rights than what she is Islamically entitled to, yet it is haram for her to demand them. Examples may include strict equal authority with the husband, rights to marry like the husband without to Ahlul Kitab, etc.)
Looking at these groups, one would expect some overlap.
Category 2 would also demand what category 1 demands, and category 3 would demand what categories 1 and 2 demand.
Now from amongst these three categories, which one is the seriously problematic one? Category 3, no question about it.
When category 3 is critiqued and attacked, it is possible that categories 1 and 2 would feel attacked as well. They would feel that since category 3 also demands some of the things they do, they would also feel that they are being attacked. However, one must be careful to determine and judge whether the critique against category 3 is absolutist in the sense that it critiques everything category 3 is demanding or whether the critique is launched against the underlying ideological premises of this category’s line of thinking. Categories 1 and 2 should equally shun category 3 and not feel sympathy with this deviant group just because of some of the superficial similarities which may be observed. The ideological differences between the two are significant.
Those who critique category 3 should equally be careful in not making categories 1 and 2 feel they are coming under attack. Furthermore, those who critique category 3 must ensure that they are knowledgeable enough not to attack category 2, which could be easily misconstrued as category 3 if knowledge of what constitutes valid opinion and scholarship is not recognized.
Liberal feminists belong to category 3. Even though there are no statistics to prove or disprove otherwise, what could apparently be observed is that a sizeable percentage of category 3 women do not have the problems of category 1 women. In fact, many of them are from upper-class privileged families studying at top-notch universities and are, in fact, living better material lives than most men in the world. This batch of category 3 feminists is particularly deviant. The batch of category 3, which are or used to be category 1, definitely has some internal scars that need healing. Nevertheless, their decision to become liberal feminists cannot be justified. Pain and suffering do not justify making haram decisions.
What did the Prophet (peace be upon him) say about the man fighting Jihad and wounded and in great pain? He said: “He will go to the (Hell) Fire.” (https://sunnah.com/bukhari/82/12).
These situations are difficult, but we must not let our emotions and desires take sway. The truth is the truth. What is wrong is wrong. This is not about being mean-spirited but rather having the required protective jealousy to stand up for Allah’s Deen. Otherwise, the floodgates would open to sympathizing with anyone and everyone.
We would end up softening towards Kharijites because many of them had abusive childhoods, were victims of government torture, had family members murdered, etc., and we would then try to humanize them and sympathize with the psychological factors which led them to become Kharijites, etc.
We would soften towards religious pluralists because many of them cannot bear the emotional difficulty of having non-Muslim parents who died, etc.
We would soften towards Shias who may share some legitimate concerns here and there of Sunni persecution, etc.
The implications are serious and endless.
Yes, we must use wisdom when we speak and be cautious of what we say; that is fine. However, we must not permit our sympathies to enable the proliferation of deviant ideas to permeate Muslim societies.
Differentiating between Baseless and Legitimate Charges of Female Oppression
What counts as being “oppressed” in Islam? You are oppressed when a right you are entitled to is unjustly taken from you. You are not oppressed simply because you do not get what you want. Let us take a look at women, for example. A woman would be oppressed if her husband physically abused her...
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