|
CHANGE AND REFORM IN THE MUSLIM WORLD
By Asghar Ali Engineer
THE world is on the
verge of the twenty-first century and different belief systems are being
critically examined by experts in various fields. Religion and religious
beliefs are no exception. However, this does not mean that the basics of
religion itself are to be changed. For revealed religions like Islam,
these fundamentals are immutable. But it should also be borne in mind that
no religion can escape sociological influences.
Even the revealed fundamentals filter through given social structures. The
Muslim theologians themselves were conscious of this fact. They made
provisions for what they called 'adat', i.e., the traditions and customs
of a given society. The Shari'ah formulations of the early Islamic period
were thus influenced by the Arab adat.
Besides adat, other factors like 'qiyas' (analogy) and 'ijma' (consensus)
too went into shari'ah formulations and could not have escaped the
sociological filter. After all, the consensus among the theologians (ulama)
depended on their social outlook. It was, therefore, synthesis of the
theological and the sociological which finally gave shape to the Shari'ah
formulations.
It is for this reason that an eminent Islamic thinker like Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad made a distinction between Din (the essence of religion) and
shari'ah (the laws governing socio-religious behaviour). The Maulana
maintained, and rightly so, that while Din is one (his well-known doctrine
of Wahdat-e-din), the shari'ah differs from time to time and society to
society.
Classical Jurists
The classical jurists also had made provision for what they called 'ijtihad'
(i.e. creative thinking). Since the social needs were bound to vary from
time to time and place to place, there ought to be some provision for
creative thinking and re-interpreting divine provisions. Islam was
revealed in Arabia and certain socio-legal provisions in the Quar'an
catered specifically to the needs of the Arab society of the time. Thus,
one who re-thinks issues in Islam on the eve of the 21st century cannot
afford to mechanically imitate the classical jurists.
Islam's image has been sullied by a few fundamentalists who are not aware
of the progressive nature of the Qur'an's injunctions. The Qur'an laid
down fundamental values which were applied to the then society by the
early jurists. The fundamentalists, rather than going by the value
pronouncements of the Qur'an, go by their applications in the early
Islamic society. Thus Islam gets frozen in the 7-8th century when the
classical jurists flowered.
These fundamentalists do not appreciate the fact that the value
pronouncements of the Qur'an -- rigorous justice, equality of all
irrespective of colour, race and ethnicity, equality of sexes, just
distribution of economic resources -- are amongst the most modern and it
is these pronouncements which are fundamental to Islam, not what the
classical jurists attempted in their own society.
These fundamentalists are responsible for the image of Islam as a
backward-looking religion. The facts point to the contrary. Because of the
actions of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the impression is created that
Islam disempowers women. In fact, the Qur'an nowhere deprives women of
their right to earn their own livelihood(Qur'anic verse 4:32), let alone
confine them to their homes. This verse says that ``For men is the benefit
of what they earn, and for women is the benefit of what they earn.''
Similarly, the Qur'an pronounces the concept of sexual equality in verse
2:228: "And women have rights similar to those against them in a just
manner". In verse 33:35, women and men are equated in every respect.
It is a wonder that there exist in Islamic Shari'ah provisions which
appear to be contrary to the concept of gender justice enshrined in the
Qur'an.
Rational Management
It is true that the early Islamic society could not stomach sexual
equality. Therefore, the jurists invented the hadith which could sanction
sex-discriminatory laws to fulfill their requirements. It is time to
rethink these shari'ah provisions and reinvent the original Qur'anic
spirit of gender justice. Many modern interpreters of the Qur'an have been
emphasising this approach.
In the Arab world, Islamic thinkers like Allama Yusuf Qardawi and others
have stressed the Qur'anic spirit of justice. Also, the practice of 'hijab'
prevalent in some Arab countries in which women cover themselves from top
to toe including their face does not exist in the Qur'an. It is a
customary practice rather than a Qur'anic one. All that the Qur'an
requires is a dignified dress which does not explicitly display a woman's
sexual charms in order to attract male attention. This question is more
culture-sensitive than categorical in nature. Moreover, cultural norms are
more important than theological ones. The earlier theologians and jurists
did show cultural sensitivity in their formulations. But the theologians
belonging to latter generations lost this sensitivity in their zeal to
imitate their predecessors.
There is another important factor -- socio-political in nature -- which is
responsible for freezing Islam in the past. The Qur'an had laid emphasis
on reason, thinking and reflection and uses words like 'aql', 'tadabbur'
and 'tafakkur' which imply reason, rational management of things and deep
reflection. Nowhere does the Qur'an demand blind imitation.
The Qur'an also lays emphasis on democratic consultation in state affairs,
a fact overtaken by the historical event of monarchy -- which was against
the spirit of Islam -- being established in the Muslim world when Yazid,
the first Umayyad monarch was installed. It led to the development of an
authoritarian culture. This authoritarian culture was also reflected in
many juristic formulations which were taken to be immutable. This writer
calls this the feudalisation of Islam, something which killed its spirit
of democracy and justice. In most Islamic countries, this feudal Islam
persists and comes in the way of rethinking and ijtihad.
Progressive Spirit
The need of the hour is to de-feudalise Islam and restore its progressive
spirit. The world of Islam, which is entering the post-modern world, is
caught within a contradiction. On one hand, it is modernising at a fast
pace; on the other, it is struggling to keep its feudal identity,
resisting change. The dilemma is that it admits to change in economic and
technological fields while it struggles to retain its primordial character
in the theological realm.
The Islamic world has not been able to successfully resolve this paradox.
It requires a creative and critical approach to theology. Firstly, the
theologians are ill-equipped to do so. Secondly, such a theological milieu
does not exist in Islamic countries. However, it is only a matter of time,
with change being inevitable and the process having already begun. Its
pace at present is slow, but there is no way to accelerate it since people
cannot often absorb rapid change in religious matters. It is even more
difficult in case of the Muslim world. Change, however, is surely on the
agenda in the Islamic world.
Source: http://www.dawoodi-bohras.com
|
