Chapter 2
Women's Equality In Judgeship and Leadership
The mullahs preach that a woman's place is in the home, that her voice should
not be heard by strangers, that she must not call to prayers, that she must
not deliver speeches, that she must not sing. Here, banning women from judgeship
and religious and political leadership is of paramount significance because
it deals with the most important responsibilities. According to Article
115 of the clerics' Constitution, the President, in particular, must be
nominated from among the religious men. As a Muslim woman, I declare that
these claims are contrary to Islam. In Islam, women enjoy all these and
other rights, equal with those of men.
Unfounded reasons
To deny women their right to judge, govern or become religious leaders,
the mullahs draw on common collection of citations. Most of their discussions
focus on judgment, from which they derive the ban on female political and
religious leadership. Hence, if the reasoning behind the ban on female judges
is proven to be groundless, the same applies to the ban on women's religious
and political leaders.
Ijtihad (contemporary interpretation of allegorical verses of the Quran
by qualified scholars) requires that every decree or judgment be evaluated
according to four criteria: 1. The Quran, 2. The Traditions (meaning the
methods, sayings and writings) of the Prophet and the Imams, 3. The consensus
of Ulema (religious scholars), and 4. Common sense.
The mullahs' logic conforms to none of these specifications.
1. According to the Quran:
There are no statements in the Quran depriving women from acting as judges,
and religious or political leaders. On the contrary, when the Quran speaks
of judgeship and leadership, it addresses both men and women: "God
dot command you to render back your trusts to those to whom they are due;
And when yea judge between peoples, that yea judge with justice."1
Verses 71 of Repentance2 and 74 of The Criterion3 underscore women's equal
social responsibility and right to leadership. "
2. According to the Tradition of the Prophet:
None of the mullahs' citations from the Traditions (sunna) imply that the
Prophet forbid women from becoming judges or political leaders. Besides,
it is common knowledge that after the Prophet's death, women's citations
of the Prophet's sayings were considered credible and many have been incorporated
into the main body of the hadith.
The citations used by the mullahs to prove that Islam bars women from becoming
leaders or judges are baseless. The mullahs argue, for example, that if
a woman were to become a judge, men would hear her voice when she speaks,
promoting sin. Therefore, women are not permitted to sit on the bench. Such
reasoning is not only absurd but without credence. Did women, such as Umma
Salama, not narrate the Traditions of the Prophet? Did the Prophet's daughter
and granddaughter, Fatima and Zeinab, not deliver elaborateate sermons in
the mosques and among the people?
3. According to the religious scholars:
Contrary to the notion that all religious jurists concur on these prohibitions,
some of the most renowned Sunni jurists think otherwise. Abu Hanifeh, leader
of the largest Sunni branch,4 does not believe any such prohibitions existed.
Mohammad Jarir Tabari, prominent jurist and the author of the acclaimed
Tabari's History,5 wrote: "Since women are allowed to master Ijtihad,
they can also become judges, just like men."
Sheikh Mohammad Hassan an-Najafi, author of Jawaher-ol Kalam (The Gems of
Discourse), cites "consensus" as proof that judges must be male.6
Allamé Helli, a key Shiite jurist of his time, wrote in Nahjol-Haq
(The Road to Truth) that there is no such consensus.7 Hossein Ali Montazeri,
the once designated successor to Khomeini who was much acclaimed by his
mentor as a jurist, rejects Najafi's contention that there is a consensus
in this regard, writing: "In all the books of citations from the infallible
Imams I have studied, I have not encountered such a matter."8
One can conclude, therefore, that the serious disagreements among the religious
scholars make it clear that there are no citations in the Prophet's Tradition
or in the Hadith which prohibit women from judgeship and thereby leadership.
4. According to common sense:
A simple question can be enlightening for any Muslim. How is it possible
that women and men bear an equal responsibility, both in terms of their
religion and society, to propagate the faith; and bear an equal responsibility,
stated in the Quran, to promote justice and Towhid (oneness); but when it
comes to the most crucial means of advancing these objectives - judgeship
and religious and political leadership - women are excluded? If women are
permitted to master Ijtihad, then how can they be deprived, on a par with
lunatics and criminals, of the right to religious leadership, even when
more qualified? Why should the public be deprived of a woman's superior
insight or more comprehensive understanding of the faith?
We are free to debate, at whatever length, the qualifications required for
a jurisprudent, judge or leader, until we arrive at a definite conclusion.
It is very different, however, to deprive women of the chance to acquire
the necessary qualifications and religious knowledge.
As you can see, according to the criteria of jurisprudence, being a man
is not a prerequisite to becoming a judge or a leader. Contrary to what
the fundamentalists attribute to Islam, the logic of the Quran clearly articulates
that women can be judges as well as religious and political leaders.
Muslims believe, as explicitly proclaimed by the Quran and the Prophet of
Islam, that the religion and book of God exist to guide all generations
of Muslims. The primary paradox invalidating the fundamentalist point of
view, therefore, is that it transforms God's religion and book into a set
of rigid, lifeless precepts; as Imam Ali, the fourth Caliph and the first
Shiite Imam, said of such interpretations of Islam, "Theirs is the
version most alien from Islam and the Quran."
In the famous book, Nahjol-Balagha (The Road to Eloquence),9 Imam Ali predicted
a day that resembles to an amazing degree the present situation in my country,
Iran, ruled by the Pharisees. In sermon 361, he says, "There will come
a day when the mosques are thriving on the outside, but are corrupted in
their guidance. There will come a day when those who build the mosques and
those who attend them are the most evil on Earth."10
Notes:
1. The Glorious Quran, translation and commentary by A. Yusuf Ali (U.K.:
The Islamic Foundation, 1975), Sura IV: Nisaa (The Women), Verse 58, p.
197.
2. Ibid., p. 461. Verse 71 of Repentance: "The believers, men and women,
are protectors, one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what
is evil..."
3. Ibid., p. 944. The Quran again speaks on behalf of all Muslims, men and
women, in the prayer of verse 74 of The Criterion: "And give us the
grace to lead the righteous."
4. Abu Hanifeh was the leader of the largest Sunni branch who passed away
in 793 A.D.
5. Mohammad Jarir-e Tabari was a prominent jurist and the author of the
acclaimed Tarikh-e Tabari (Tabari's History), one of the most accurate accounts
regarding the history of early Islam. Tabari died in 953 A.D.
6. Shiekh Muhammad an-Najafi, Jawaher-ol Kalam (The Gems of Discourse),
Beirut: 1981, Vol. 40, p. 12-14.
7. Allamé Helli, Nahj-ol Haq (The Road to Truth), originally cied
in Jawaher-ol Kalam, op. cit. Allamé Helli died in 1405 A.D.
8. Hossein Ali Montazeri, Mabani-e Fiqhi-e Hokumat-e Islami (The jurisprudential
foundations of Islamic rule), Qom, Iran.
9. Nahj-ol Balagha (The Road to Eloquence), is a compilation of sermons,
letters, and sayings of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib.
10. Nahj-ol Balagha (The Road to Eloquence), translation and commentary