Abstract
This chapter discusses the issue of female religious authority within Western Muslim communities in light of the growing gender consciousness in the West over the past several decades and the influence of Western liberal democracies and exposure to intellectual feminist currents on Muslim thought. It highlights that Western Muslim communities are becoming increasingly sensitive to the idea that (neo-)traditionalist approaches to Islam were/are exhibiting lack of interpretational awareness and self-reflexivity. This chapter presents an overview of the main actors and issues with respect to female religious authority among Western Muslims. It focuses on the work of Western Muslim scholars and activists such as Amina Wadud, Asma Barlas, Irshad Manji, and Asra Nomani who have been at the forefront of the debates surrounding female religious authority within Western Muslim communities. The chapter recognises that while the majority of the Islamic organisations and mosques are still firmly in the hands of men, signs of change are evident in the establishment of women-only, women-led, and gender-inclusive mosques as well as the inclusion of women in leadership positions in some major Islamic organisations.
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Notes
- 1.
Other aspects of increased gender consciousness include views on Western Muslims views on marriage, dating, domestic violence, dress and fashion, representation of Muslim women in the media to name but the most prominent few. These are outside of the scope of this chapter and a sizeable literature on these aspects already exists.
- 2.
Bano and Kalmbach (2012, 280) argue the question of religious authority in relation to Muslim communities particularly in Europe has primarily been defined in the West, especially Europe, “as a relation to religious specialists and movements who mediate interpretations of scripture and thus authorize beliefs and practices”.
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This is based on its Wikipedia page. During the time of the writing of this book, the website of FIOE was under maintenance.
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http://zentralrat.de/2593.php. No data available for the other major organisation in Germany Islamrat fur the Bundesrepublik Deutschland. https://www.islamrat.de/
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See footnote 6.
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Such as the female imam of the Mariam Mosque in Copenhagen where both males and female can worship apart from the Friday congregational prayers when the mosque is only opened to female worshipers. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/26/women-lead-friday-prayers-denmark-first-female-run-mosque-mariam
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https://newrepublic.com/article/101694/allah-liberty-love-irshad-manji, accessed 4 November 2017.
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Wadud has had training in classical Islamic sciences in North Africa whereas Barlas’ background is political and cultural studies.
- 25.
“People, We created you all from a single man and a single woman, and made you into races and tribes so that you should recognize one another. In God’s eyes, the most honoured of you are the ones most mindful of Him: God is all knowing, all aware” (Abdel Haleem 2005, 339).
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“[Prophet], when your Lord told the angels, ‘I am putting a successor on earth,’…” (Abdel Haleem 2005, 7).
- 27.
For men and women who are devoted to God—believing men and women, obedient men and women, truthful men and women, steadfast men and women, humble men and women, charitable men and women, fasting men and women, chaste men and women, men and women who remember God often–God has prepared forgiveness and a rich reward (Abdel Haleem 2005, 269).
- 28.
Another of His signs is that He created spouses from among yourselves for you to live with in tranquillity: He ordained love and kindness between you. There truly are signs in this for those who reflect (Abdel Haleem 2005, 258).
- 29.
As in the case of classical Muslim family laws and gender relations (Duderija 2014).
- 30.
Reports attributed to Muhammad and his prominent followers.
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Duderija, A., Rane, H. (2019). Female Religious Authority. In: Islam and Muslims in the West. New Directions in Islam. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92510-3_7
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