The Position of Women in Islam: A Progressive View

Authors Note

Authors Note As the author of this book, I owe explanations of certain matters that may raise controversies among the readers. On almost every topic dealt with in this book, I have questioned the traditional views of conservative Muslim scholars. In response to their possible criticism of my work, I can only point out that I have tried to state what the Quran and the authentic Hadith say and have highlighted where prevalent Islamic law has deviated from these two fundamental sources of Islamic law. To attain this objective , I quote Quranic verses and authentic Hadith supplemented by progressive authors who support my views. However, I have not failed to mention the views of those who contradict my views. The conclusions I arrive at are based more on these sources than on my own opinion. The authenticity of these conclusions is likely to be questioned by some traditional Islamic scholars. These same scholars may question my many references to works translated into English. For this I make no apology. However, I can mention my reasons for using these references. First, these authors are eminent scholars in their respective fields, and second, they have supported their opinions by English translations of the Quranic verses and authentic Hadiths. One such author is the translator of the Quran, Muhammad Ali, who belongs to the Lahori branch of the Ahmadi sect and believed Muhammad (pbuh) is the last Prophet. While considering the feelings of mainstream Muslims about the Ahmadis in general, I cannot ignore the valuable work of this outstanding scholar of Islamic law and issues. The great translator of the Quran into English, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, refers to Muhammad Ali on occasion. Another great translator of the Quran into English, Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, remarks, “Probably no living man has done longer or more valuable service for the cause of Islamic revival than Maulana Muhammad Ali of Lahore.” In order to allow the reader to examine some contoversial areas, I present some transliterations of Arabic Quranic verses in English. I present these especially in verses where different translators have translated them xi differently. Biblical English expressions such as thee, thou, hath, et cetera, used by Abdullah Yusuf Ali in his translation of the Quran have been substituted with modern English expressions, wherever necessary, for the convenience of the reader. Another matter that constantly worried me was to avoid the reification of Islam in my work. I have tried to avoid it as much as possible. However , I was compelled to refer to the remarks of some authorities, who themselves indulged in reifying Islam. In such cases I paraphrased their remarks without making any fundamental alterations to these reified expressions . On my part, while avoiding expressions such as ‘what Islam says,’ I had no alternative but to use expressions such as ‘Islamic law’ or ‘Islamic rules’ in the same way as Christian scholars use expressions such as ‘Canon law,’ and ‘Christian ethics.’ However, when I have used the expressions ‘the Quran teaches,’ or ‘the Hadith says,’ I was not deliberately reifying Islam but actually referring to the two most important sources of Islamic law, namely the Quran and the Hadith. This could not be avoided. In my work I have used abbreviations on very few occasions. The expression, pbuh, has been used after the Prophet, or Prophet Muhammad. The expression, pbuh, means peace be upon him. This expression signifies respect and is widely used in the Muslim world. My use of the expression, the Prophet (pbuh), is a substitute for the expression, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). With regards to Hadiths quoted in this book, the following abbreviations are used to indicate the collection of Hadiths from which it was taken: AD Abu-Daud B Bukhari M Muslim N Nesai T Tirmidhi The author date system has been used for referencing. When AH is used, this indicates after Hijra, and indicates the cited reference was published using this dating system. For complete bibliographical details, see references. xii AUTHORS NOTE ...