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The picture depicts Men in Sujud. The author believes that Sujud in prayer (prostration) is the pinnacle representation of humanity's equality before God. He also recognises the irony of using images of men in an article about women, but he thinks that men need to remember that our place is to lie prostrate on the ground too.
The Perversion of Faith – An Anecdote of Misogyny
Elf of the Two Spires
A fluffy, "head in the clouds" kinda guy trying to make sense of the world around him – both the divine and mundane. Though, there’s nothing more divinely mundane than the law.
Introduction: The Imperfection Of Man
An oft-cited defence of Muslims against Islamophobes and critics of the religion is that what those on the fringes of the religious practice and preach is not what Islam stands for. In addition to a gap between theory and practice, there is also a gap between the mortal and the divine. Islam is a perfect divine religion, but those practising it are imperfect mortal men.
This imperfection manifests itself in many ways. Some are as innocent as in the way Muslims pray (notice how some schools (madhhab) hold the hands over their bellies whilst others don’t?).1 Some as far as whether women are sui juris in terms of marriage.2 And there are even ones that go as far as differences in basic theological principles. For instance, on whether people have free will as it relates to predestination (Qada’ and Qadr).3 The core idea here is that these differences in opinion epitomise the problem of human interpretation of the divine – that they are fundamentally imperfect.
On a further level exists a school of Islam which rejects the Sunnah, or the traditions and the sayings of the Prophet PBUH, as a foundational source of Sharia’. The Quranist argument is that the transmitters are imperfect humans and prone to errors. Note that they are not arguing that the Sunnah is imperfect but that those who transmit it are.4 This is significant as the basis of the Sharia is the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
The rejection of all Sunnah is an extreme minority extreme position. However, the criticism itself is valid. In mitigating this, the mainstream Sunni view, assign multiple levels to the authenticity of the Hadith. Generally, they are sorted into three broad categories, authentic (sahih), good (hasan), and weak (daif). What differentiates the Hadith in these categories is how reliable they are, and they are judged on diverse factors. It is problematic that sometimes ignorant people privilege Hadiths over Qur’anic verses even when they’re very weak and contradictory. As apparent in the following account.
An Anecdotal Account Of The Problem
Despite the best attempts of leading mainstream ulama, it is impossible to completely avoid misinformation within the Islamic world. Especially given the sheer diversity in thought and practice that exists. This results in the harrowing indoctrination of extremist interpretations of the religion. Not only in terms of the belief but also in the source of the belief. When people mistakenly believe that the sources, interpretation, construction, and practice of these laws, philosophies, and systems are divine and immutable, it would lead to a horrid perversion of the religion itself. If it began at an early stage of the culture’s acceptance of the religion, it could lead to these perversions being passed down and integrated into the wider culture and mistaken as divine.
In terms of gender inequality, for instance, no Hadith is more famous than the following:
وَجُعِلَتِ الشَّهْوَةُ عَلَى عَشَرَةِ أَجْزَاءٍ، وَجُعِلَتْ تِسْعَةُ أَجْزَاءٍ مِنْهَا فِي النِّسَاءِ، وَوَاحِدَةٌ فِي الرِّجَالِ
“And syahwat (desires) is made into ten parts, nine of it are for woman, and one for man.”
Narrated by Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu’jam al-Awsat (567),
and Ibnu Hajar al-Haithami in Majma’ al-Zawa’id (10/30)
Note that the mainstream Sunni view of these Hadiths, as expressed by the Mufti of the Federal Territories, is that they are daif jiddan (extremely weak), as one of the narrators in the chain of transmission is considered to be matruk. In other words, one of them is an infamous liar and heretic.
However, this is a Hadith that is oft-cited in the sermons of small Suraus and Mosques. Especially when delivered by the less qualified. When I was 16, I vividly remember one of my Form 5 seniors delivering a sermon entitled, “Why Men Should Lead”, in which he used said Hadith as the biggest justification for his belief. “How should a woman lead then if her nature is inclined to follow desire instead of the intellect?” he argues. Some people even go so far as to argue that it also implies the converse that the ‘aql (intellect) is made into ten parts, nine for men and one for women. That is, men, by nature, have more intellect than desire and should therefore be leaders in society.
Regardless of whether this practice is as mainstream as it used to be back in the early-2010s, it remains that there is an entire generation that has been indoctrinated with the heretical idea that women are by nature inferior to men. Its consequence goes beyond simple misogyny. It also means that they would be embedded into our collective consciousness, which translates to things such as law-making, cultural habits, and, most heinously, religious practice.
Think of the young girl sitting in the audience. Unless she took the initiative to look into the authenticity of the Hadith or had the fortune of having her beliefs “corrected” by a more qualified preacher, she would grow up and internalise this heretical idea that God has created women to be inferior to men. Thereafter she would pass this on to her children, their children’s children, and so forth.
The power of this mass indoctrination goes beyond just parrots mimicking echoed sounds. It also has the power to create a cultural blind spot. Note that when you grow up learning theology, specifically Islamic Creed (Aqidah), one of the most important ideas taught to you is Tawhid. In short, it is that:
- God is absolutely one
- He is the creator of all things and the source of all goodness
- All are equal before Him.
One might think that since the Hadith directly violates the 3rd principle, it will be called into question. However, the reality is many people would simply accept it as a divine fact, especially when they come from people who are in positions of trust. In this case, a well-respected, devout, senior student leader.
Most importantly, to a large extent, it directly contradicts the following Qur’anic verse:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍۢ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَـٰكُمْ شُعُوبًۭا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَتْقَىٰكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌۭ
“O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may get to know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware.”
Qur’an 49:13 (Al-Hujurat; The Chamber Compartments)
The exegesis of this verse, as outlined in Tafsir Ibn Kathir, is fairly intuitive. He argues that it is a reference to all of humanity being “descendants of ‘Adam and Hawwa [Eve]’ and share this honour equally”. Therefore, we all equally share in such honour. In other words, we are equal in status and dignity.
Furthermore, even if one does not subscribe to this idea that we are their descendants, the verse also says that “the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you”. Though the word “righteous” here refers to Taqwa or religious piety, it still supports the idea that all are equal before God. Their difference lies purely in their virtue and character.
Moreover, this verse is further corroborated by the following Hadith reported by Abu Hurairah RA, which is an excerpt to a longer one:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَنْظُرُ إِلَى صُوَرِكُمْ وَأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى قُلُوبِكُمْ وَأَعْمَالِكُمْ
“Verily, Allah does not look at your appearance or wealth, but rather He looks at your hearts and actions.”
Sahih Muslim 2564 in Kitab Al-Birr Wa’s-Salat-I-Wa’l-Adab
Thereby concluding again that what matters to God is not any material or physical features one have, certainly not gender. But rather, their virtue as a person.
Moving Forward
There ought to be a more conscious effort by Muslims in Malaysia to understand the religion they practice. Do not accept your indoctrination as fact. Take care to understand the sources, the systems, and the philosophy that lead to the idea that people try to peddle, regardless of whether they come from a “qualified” person or otherwise. In my experience here in the UK and back home in Malaysia, far too many people cannot even explain our 5 pillars of Islam and 6 pillars of Iman. Despite these pillars being the essence of our faith. Even though these are the same people who make being Muslim their entire identity, most importantly, we need to know where the line is drawn between culture and religion. Especially in Malaysia, where constitutionally, to be Malay is to be Muslim, it is far too easy to attribute what is otherwise un-Islamic cultural habits and beliefs to the divine.
Revivalists like to point to our Golden Age. Remember that their entire culture and society were built on a love of knowledge rooted in a single verse. The first to be revealed to the Prophet PBUH on Mt. Hira’:
ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ
“Read! In the name of your Lord who has created”
Qur’an 96:1 (Al-Alaq; The Clots of Blood)
Embody the revelation and champion its spirit; that God wants us to be a nation that actively gains knowledge and wisdom, one guided by reason and belief in the true spirit of the divine.
God knows best. Wallahu A’lam.
Notes
- Followers of the Maliki school have their hands by their sides during Qiyam. Interestingly, there are also minute differences between the three other schools.
- By this I refer to the requirements of the Wali’s (marriage guardian) permission as a condition for the validity of the marriage. In Hanafi, it is only a requirement for kalam (perfection), whilst the three other schools require the Wali’s consent. Some conditions also allow them to exercise the right of Ijbar (coercion).
- The biggest classical “conflict” is between the Ash’aris and Mu’tazilites. A simplistic explanation of a debate that is too long to put in the footnotes is that the former has a modified understanding of determinism, whilst the latter has a modified understanding of free will.
- Daniel W. Brown’s work “Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought” provides an easy-to-follow summary of the development of the role of Prophetic tradition (Sunna) in Islamic Jurisprudence.