Citizenship, Faith, and Feminism: Jewish and Muslim Women Reclaim Their Rights

Preface

Preface Resistance to oppression is obedience to G-d. n 1872 United States v Susan B. Anthony Any friend of G-d’s is a friend of mine. n anonymous Jewish professor of Islamic history If G-d is everywhere, then every woman is already in the center. n Professor and Imama Amina Wadud, commenting on the ontological status of women at Conference on Gender, Religion, and Authority, Radcli√e, April 2008 My intent in this book is to reveal commonalities between Jewish and Muslim feminisms. I have no larger agenda. I will not claim that ‘‘if only the women ruled the world all would be well.’’ It strikes me that Arabic and Hebrew share the same name for G-d that translates as ‘‘the Compassionate One.’’ Still, the cleavages and conflicts between the religions are real: political, historical, and doctrinal. I do not expect the recognition of our shared goals and strategies to result in a grander rapprochement, though, in my dream world, that will occur some day. First, a bit of self-disclosure: I am an Orthodox Jew and a feminist, and, therefore, a participant observer. Muslim and Jewish women are similarly situated with respect to their religious authority. We assume that the sacred texts represent divine selfdisclosure and share a strategy that relies on mastering the rules of interpretation and analysis in pursuit of an authentic rather than apologetic, reading of the foundational texts. This, in itself, might constitute the fulcrum of a revolution in the word’s original etymological sense—that is to ‘‘revolve back to the original,’’ in this case, revealed divine intent. I have no desire to comment on the truth claims of either religion. I take the view that neither religion is inherently and intrinsically misogynistic. But I also take the view that anything that leads to an unjust act is itself unjust. I xii n preface attribute injustice to humans, not to G-d. That acknowledged, I agree with Jewish and Muslim feminists who deem it critical that women insist on disentangling religion from accrued cultural and traditional attitudes or practices that are hostile to human dignity. Finally, as with all interpretive endeavors, the interpreter is an everpresent mediator between the material and the reader, and though I strive to accurately represent the voices of the women I have interviewed, I have left my own imprint. That said, any errors in my interpretation of the texts or the views of others are my own. This project took me to Israel, Kuwait, and Morocco, where I conducted open-ended interviews with women activists . I used a snowball sampling method to expand my participant group beyond my original contacts. As a participant observer I brought a certain perspective and self-awareness to my interviews and my assessments, yet, I made every e√ort to allow my interviewees to speak for themselves in their own voices. The compassion of G-d is not like human compassion. Human rulers favor males over females but the One who spoke and brought the world into being is not like that. n Sifre Numbers 133∞ C¢izenshß, Fa¢h, & Feminism ...