|
Legacies of the past,
Challenges of the present
Chapter two deals with
legacies of the past, and challenges of the present. The
theme is exploring the possibility of deriving guidance from
scriptures inspired in the different historical context that
copes with contested issues in contemporary world. This is
dealt with through essays by Mona Siddiqui and Esther Mamba,
both focusing on women’s role in society, along with two
pairs of passages from the Qur’an and the Bible.
In her essay relating to
“The ethics of gender discourse in Islam”, Mona Siddiqui
streses that modernity is antithetical-not to
traditional religion-but to traditional religious attitudes
and systems.
Religions stood up to modernity because
they fulfill human need for hope and trust and Islam managed
to be world strong religion.
Shari’a is the base of legitimacy to
mormative belief and practice within Islamic culture.
Nevertheless it isn’t God’s Law but a human structure, that
can and must be developed. For Qur’an is an eternal divine
message and book-not of law but of guidance. It should be
liberated from selective, repressive biased readings and
interpretation, which shaped concept of gender and the
issues relating to it, meaning a polygamy, the concept of
qiuama, veiling, family laws and family planning. Tracing
the evolution of the liberal movement through political
nationalisms emerging in the after math of World War II she
referred to reformists-like Al-Afghani, Mohammad Abdu, Qutb,
Qasim Amin…ect- who called for a new interpretation that
does not Islamicize modernity, but modernizes Islam, and
adapts to the needs, benefits of the Muslim community
yearning for progress and prosperity. Hence, they advocated
ending discrimination, repression,
degredation and seclusion of women from
education and work. She justified women’s late contribution
in this debate, as a worldwide stand regardless of religious
and cultural loyalties.
But now, feminist reformist
voices loudly heared in academic institutions and human
rights organizations calling for emphasizing the hidden
morality of Islam: equality, justice and compassion. The
challenge of modernization is not westernization, but rather
of interpretation. Emancipation of women required liberation
through texts. Thus keeping God’s word alive-in a world of
competent interests-not by hiding our scriptures but by
facing them with courage and humanity.
The essay by Esther Mombo
“A Circle perspective” tried to explain the difference
between two mutually used terms:
Interpretation and hermeneuties,
defining the later to be indeed interpretation of the
interpretation. And thus is a complicated tasks belonging to
at least three areas “philosophy, theology and the Bible”.
Then moved to review the mutation of Biblical interpretation
through the centuries. As it is started with the
text-centred approach through allegorical or symbolic
interpretation.”Alexandrian School”. Then evolved through
the rationalistic philosophy “Antiochian and Cartesian
School” till the launching of Hegel philosophy of historical
criticism.
Interpretation was fully obsessed by
history and focused on reconstructing the history of Israel
and the books of the Bible. This “European School” was
characterized by the “author-centred approach”. The
contemporary popular approach mostly discarded the
historical critical method and adopted a reader-centred
approach, meaningly Biblical understanding and interpreting
focusing on the specific socio-economic and cultural context
of the readers.
The Biblical interpretation
from the perspective of Concerned African Women Theologians
(in briefs The Circle) is a practical example of this
approach. The Circle seeks a reading and
Interpretation of the Bible-as the word
of God-far from the patriarchal ideologies of oppression and
dehumanization and inferiority of women. That would
challenge the colonial Christianity which legitimized
oppression of African culture as uncouth and uncivilized.
Thus aiming at decolonization and
liberation of mind through liberating the texts and
contextualizing them in the light of African specific
circumstances and culture featured-basically –by violence
and discrimination against women and the multi-faith
context. This is necessary to ensure a positive reaction to
religious preach. At the same time the Circle theologians
realize the need for a balanced and selective criterion for
critiquining their African culture that contributed to the
harshness of their conditions and degraded their role in
society. The main dimensions of African culture concerning
the role of women are clearly exposed throughout the essay
(violence, rape, Aids, exclusion in nomination, levirate
marriage…)
The essay gave a
bibliographical analysis of certain Circle publications to
show how seriously the Bible, as well as the cultural and
traditional framework that shapes women’s situation is
taken.
And to evaluate the Circle’s
contribution in hammering a system of interpretation and
doing theology which can make primary sense to African
women.
Besides, the chapter
introduces two dialogues based on two pairs of parallel
texts of the Bible and the Qur’an. The first dialogue dealt
with the Biblical text Romans(4) and Qur’anic text
Al-Baqara(2) 124-136. Both texts present Abraham (Ibrahim)
who stands in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity
and Islam as a significant figure. In Christian and Muslim
Scriptures he is presented as a righteous man accepted by
God, a recipient of divine blessings, and a Channel of
divine mercy to the world. In spite of this shared
appreciation of Abraham, the two considered texts gave
different
Answers to the contested questions of
the rightful inheritors of Abraham and the membership of his
community and hence, the criteria of inheriting God’s
promise to him meaning extending and universalizing this
promise.
Christians find in their
text an important proof for the doctrine of “Justification
by faith alone”. This criterion identifies the family of
Abraham to be not his descendants “After the flesh” but
nations of believes who share in his faith in the God who
raises the dead “resurrection of Jesus, the unmerited God’s
gift of faith”. The Geographical significance of promised
Land of Israel is extended by the text replacing it for the
gift of the world, meaning the whole earth to this community
of faith.
Qur’anic verses present
Abraham as an exemplar for humanity, through his
single-minded submission (Islam) to God, an attitude shared
by his family. Nevertheless, abidance by the same
submission, rather than physical descent – is the real
ensurance of God’s blessing.
The verses present monotheism as a
primordial truth, a natural intuit and repeated divine
message given to all prophets, thus universalizing the
access to Abraham’s community, balanced by the specifity of
God’s revelation to Muhammad, the fulfillment of Abraham’s
prayer. Meanwhile, Mecca-according to Al-Baqara is to be a
spiritual sanctuary for all humanity serving as a venue for
prayer and pointer to God. But in actual practice there have
been some ambiguity in both traditions about the sense of a
sacred place.
In final reflection, both
texts revealed a parallel spiritual dynamic which
defacilizes harmonization of their two accounts and renders
them as rivals, owing to marked difference in both proposed
identification criteria. This is moderated by the fact that
Christian theology generally did not deny the importance of
free human will in coming faith, while Islam acknowledges
the power that obscures the light monotheistic reason.
On the other hand the
dialogue refers to two different but not
Exclusive ways of reading and
interpreting the verses. The first is the narrative approach
congenial to Christians and cohering naturally with the
announcement of Gospel as a “good news”. The second is the
exemplary approach that fits Muslims, considering Qur’an as
a book of guidance along the path of Monotheism.
The second dialogue focused
on the role of woman in society as presented by the Qur’anic
text al-Ahzab (33)28-36 and the Biblical text
Proverbs(31)10-31. Both passages played a significant role
addressing this issue contested within Islam and
Christianity and affecting the relation between Muslims and
Christians. In Qur’anic text considered here, we find some
directives concerning the profile and behavior demanded from
the wives of Prophet Mohammad, who are the immediate object
address. Those directives, specially the order “stay at
home” are reasonably assumed to be related to their specific
situation and its political and community implications,
regarding their husband unique of leadership, and the need
of safeguarding the security and well-being of the prophetic
households and the wider emerging Muslim community;
specially against the danger of the hypocrites and their
mean interests, and struggle to further their own aims.
Meanwhile some scholars justified the radical male-female
separation societies considering prophet’s wives as
role-models.
The text’s final verse is
clearly distinguished by its unusual syntax implying
male-female equality through a powerful radical statement of
their indentical spiritual responsibilities and rewards in
the relation to the common God… through virtues and
moralities unassociated with gender roles.
The parallel Biblical text
“Proverbs 31” draws a portrait of a righteous woman as a
married housewife carrying out and directing her household
activities. But this eminent role is completely different of
her husband’s role in the civic life of the city’s “gate”.
Traditional interpretation claimed this
distinction to be a role-model. But the historical context
assures that this model was natural in the pre-industrial
economy where households were the central productive units.
The text also tells that dynamic trade and exchange involves
the woman in far-reaching interaction beyond the home.
Besides, the text illustrates mutuality within marital
relationships, with a sense of equality implied also in the
relationship with God in so far as either of them lives in
“the fear of God”.
Thus, the final reflection
about both texts assures the need for a critical approach in
interpretation to distinguish what is “public and private”
considering the difference between social, cultural, and
those of contemporary ones, implying this shifting this
domestic-civil boundary and setting new roles and relations
far from Patriarchal interpretations and concepts. Besides,
despite the absence of any reference to the place of women
in the community worship, it is clear that religious life is
open for them and spiritual equality is ensured for them on
the basis of sharing equal responsibilities and rewards in
the relation with God in Qur’anic verse, and the framework
of the “fear of God” in Biblical verses restated in the New
Testament; “There is no longer male and female; for all of
you are one in Christ Jesus”. Hence we should be able to
give new answers to the questions exposed by the texts
recognizing and revitalizing the genuine equality,
complementarity’s and mutuality between men and women for
the sake of our shared humanity, for better regulation of
our sources and justice and welfare of World economy.
|
