Masculine and Feminine- Gender In Islam

Masculine and Feminine: Gender In Islam

By Imam Zaid Shakir

Introduction: Understanding Different Forms of Feminism

I will start by mentioning the obvious, and that is there are many, many definitions of feminism and many types of feminism. Some mention three waves of feminism: first, second, third. Some mention four waves: first, second, third, fourth.

I would like to just focus on a couple of those briefly by saying that Islam does not countenance third wave feminism. So for those who identify with that particular movement, it is extremely problematic.

Third Wave Feminism and Its Origins

One of the leading theorists, and some argue the originator of third wave feminism, Rebecca Walker of Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings with Anita Hill's concerns, which Walker and many others felt should have disqualified Clarence Thomas—Anita Hill's concerns of the sexually predatory and unconscionable behavior of Clarence Thomas and other women should have disqualified him from the bench, but he was confirmed anyway.

And so in the aftermath of that, Rebecca Walker wrote the following. She says, "I write this as a plea to all women, especially women of my generation, that Thomas' confirmation serves to remind you, as it did me, that the fight is far from over. Let this dismissal of a woman's experience move you to anger. Turn that outrage into political power. Do not vote for them, men, unless they work for us. Do not have sex with them. Do not break bread with them. Do not nurture them. If they don't prioritize our freedom to control our bodies and our lives, I am not a post-feminism feminist. I am the third wave."

Islamic Perspective on Third Wave Feminism

So I think a Muslim should find that problematic. First and foremost, because it removes any concerns emanating from scripture, from the existence of God, from the equation altogether. It reduces the concerns of a woman strictly to her personal, individual affair. So it abstracts women from a wider societal context, concerns that she might have in a wider societal context.

Just one brief example of what I mean by wider societal context and removing the divine: A woman should have sole right to determine if she should have an abortion or not. And so any considerations of what Almighty God and the prophets of God have delineated concerning abortion are irrelevant in terms of a woman's right to make that determination.

A wider social context—any consideration of the man with whose participation, let's assume it's a consensual relationship, let's assume it's a consensual relationship in the context of a marriage that's consecrated in the name of God—in that social relationship, the man with whose contribution that pregnancy will be absolutely unequivocally impossible has no say in whether this child is born or not. That's a hard case to make from a

feminist perspective. Now there are nuances, there are considerations that we could discuss, but just presenting the case, all of the things being equal, I would argue that's a hard argument to make.

The Concept of Mutual Nurturing in Islam

"You should not nurture them." This verse alone, and I'll come back to this verse:

"They are garments for you and you are garments for them."

One of the widely accepted tafsirs and something repeated in the tafsirs is they nurture each other. But this consideration says no, the woman should not nurture the man if the man does not work for her specific concerns. I would argue that's difficult, that's problematic for a Muslim.

Lesbian Feminism: A Rejected Strand

Secondly, one type of feminism, lesbian feminism, is not something that Muslims would countenance. That's an idea that and it's a strand within feminism, it is not the totality of feminism. I mentioned this two years ago at the Knowledge Retreat. I was invited to this atmospheric conference and I was attacked. Many sisters said, "You're saying all lesbians are feminists." I'm not saying all lesbians are feminists.

I'm saying there is a school of feminist thought known as lesbian feminism that argues that lesbianism is the logical outcome of feminism. So, one of the theorists puts it like this: In the words of lesbian feminist Sheila Jeffreys, "Lesbian feminism emerged as a result of two developments. Lesbians within the women's liberation movement began to create a new, distinctly feminist lesbian politics, and lesbians in the gay liberation front loved to join up with their sisters."

And so, the argument goes from there, this is the logical outcome of feminism. That's a strand, that strand Muslims totally reject, should totally reject. In my opinion, you could argue against me based on your assessment of the situation. I wouldn't deny you that, not necessarily in this room.

Post-Modern Feminism and the Rejection of Binaries

Thirdly, I would argue that Islam rejects a post-modern view of feminism which itself rejects the ideas of binaries. And a lot of people are being taught this in the university classrooms: "Binaries are bad." And one of the bad binaries is the gender binary. There's the race binary: black, white. There's the gender binary: male, female. And it's bad.

And to make a long story short, it's bad because if you accept the validity of that binary, you don't accept the validity of many of the groups that are subsumed by LGBTQI, etc. That's the bottom line. And so, to just articulate a little further: these binaries are social constructs. Therefore, they can be deconstructed and be reconstructed in any way we want. And so, that's something Islam rejects.

The Quranic Affirmation of Gender Binary

Why? Because Allah says that binaries are—and they're not all confined to—that's one of them:

"The male is not like the female."

"O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from a male and a female."

So, that's the foundation of the creation. That's the foundation of Allah mentioning His creation of the human being. And so, some people say that's a biological reality that has no social implications. Again, I would argue otherwise. There are social implications, and there are elements that are socially constructed, but at root, there is a binary that is inescapable. That can't be removed then.

Binaries Throughout the Quran

And so, binaries and those who argue against it, what many of our classical scholars would say, that things are created in opposites, and they're known through their opposites. And so, those who reject binaries altogether, the Quran is full of them:

"Night and day."

Male and female. Heaven and hell. Islam and disbelief. And you can go on and on from there.

And so, I would argue again, that would be a very difficult argument to make. And I think for Muslims who confine themselves to those categories—third-wave feminism, lesbian feminism, anti-binary feminism—that is entering into a very slippery slope, that one should be very careful with.

Presenting Islam Positively

Now, it's not healthy to talk about Islam based on what it isn't, or based on what it doesn't countenance. Because we should be very positive in presenting the religion. So, in the balance of my time, I'd like to present what I feel are some of the verses that serve as the foundation for a Muslim feminism, if you will.

Addressing Women's Legitimate Concerns

First of all, there are legitimate concerns, as Ustadh and Zainab mentioned some of them, that specifically involve women. But the removal of those is the responsibility of everyone in the community, not just the sisters. And in reality, effectively addressing those issues must involve everyone. So, in that sense, in the sense of removing oppressive, destructive—so, I'm trying to find a word other than destructive, because I use destructive—so desiccating practices that affect women have to be addressed by the entire community.

Because in many instances, women can't address these issues alone, in isolation. Women can raise awareness, but sometimes, in some instances, it's going to take a man to say, "Listen brother, you put another hand on your wife, there's a bunch of angry big brothers that are going to put a hand on you." I'm just saying.

So, sisters can say, "It's wrong, I'm getting abused," and they get abused, because that's the only thing they understand. I'm not advocating for violence, I'm just saying, sometimes a male's involvement in a situation is absolutely critical.

The Gender Binary as Complementary

But to be more to the point, we mentioned one verse as a foundation, that the binary doesn't have to be bad. One of the premises of those feminist scholars, those modern scholars who argue against binaries, is that they're bad. But that's not something that Islam argues. So the male-female binary, it can be complementary, and that's the ideal situation.

So it's not a question of men and women existing in opposition to each other. It's a question of men and women existing as complements to each other. And this is what this verse captures:

"They are garments for you and you are garments for them."

Foundation for Muslim Feminism: Mutual Protection and Cooperation

It's further highlighted in the second verse, which I feel is a foundation for a Muslim feminism:

"The believing men and believing women are protecting friends of each other. They command the good and forbid the bad, establish prayer, give zakah, and obey Allah and His Messenger."

So the believing men and the believing women are protecting friends of each other. They encourage each other in establishing regular prayer. They encourage each other in commanding the good and forbidding the bad. So in the social space, they encourage each other to work together to ensure that the social space is one that's more emphatically helpful. They encourage each other in personal piety. They encourage each other in establishing regular prayer. They encourage each other in obeying Allah and His Messenger.

Unity of Purpose Between Men and Women

So in other words, there's no separate social project, there's no separate religious project, that they exist in isolation of each other. Rather, they exist as complementary halves. As the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, emphasized specifically when he said that women are the complementary halves of men. And so, as we engage in entertaining concepts and ideas that split us apart from each other, we move away from the Muslim and the Islamic ideal, which is to bring us together. Men and women are complements.

So without each other, we're incomplete. So we need each other. But we need each other in healthy ways and not abusive ways. When they say that, don't get me started. The male and the female. And there are roles that we assume that are complementary. There are roles that we assume that are unique and distinct. There are roles that we assume that are exactly the same. But on aggregate, we have generally speaking—and again, there are exceptions to that rule—we have distinct roles.

Equal Rewards for Men and Women

Or we have a common destiny. Our rewards are the same for our actions. The reward for either male or female. So I think on the basis of these verses, and many, many others, what the Prophet mentioned, peace and blessings be upon him, we can create a healthy Muslim feminism, if you will.

Addressing Harmful Practices in Society

And I think we're in desperate need of that, because a lot of practices within our community and beyond our community are deeply harmful, deeply abusive, deeply, particularly weighing upon women. You can point to the pornography industry. Women are dehumanized overwhelmingly for the pleasure—I wouldn't say the pleasure is, if you have, again, I mentioned this a couple days ago, strong mental constitution, I would recommend Chris Hedges' new book, America, the Farewell Tour.

In that book, he has a chapter on sado-masochism, and just, which is an extension of his chapter in The Empire of Illusion on pornography, which is difficult stuff to read. And the presentation is pornographic. And the presentation in the new book is masochistic. But it gets to the depth of how women are dehumanized, and as one pornography star mentioned, it's like James Baldwin.

What does James Baldwin say, ultimately, about white America? Does he fear white America? Or does he pity white America? He says, "You killed me, lynched me, but I'm not afraid. I pity people who have such a hard time coming to grips with who they are."

The Destruction Caused by Pornography

And Chris Hedges interviews a pornography star, who in the usual trajectory—abusive childhood, now left home, was making $70 a day, working 12 hours, can make $1,000 in a half-hour shoot as part of pornography. Long story short, she says that "I feel sorry for the men who are consuming pornography, because it's destroying them. It's destroying them."

And so the destruction of women, not for the pleasure of men, but the dehumanizing of women for the destruction of men is something that is going to take all of us to end. The feminist movement as currently constructed is not going to end it. Women alone are not going to end it. This is one example.

Collective Responsibility for Change

Domestic violence is going to take all of us working together, educating ourselves, educating our children, boys and girls, in healthier ways of living, of being, of understanding who we are, of remaining with our Creator, and seeking the love of our Creator, first and foremost.

The Solution is Islam, Not Extremism

And just as—and I have to stop now—a hyper-masculine movement is not a solution. Just as a white identity movement, which was largely responsible for Trump's election, isn't the solution to a perceived black identity movement, the growing male identity movement, the red pill, is not a solution to a feminist movement. The solution is Islam.

Understanding Islam and then building a way to address these real problems from a perspective and from an approach that is first and foremost not pleasing to men per se, not pleasing to women per se, but pleasing to Allah, the Lord of all creation.