To write or not to write was my reaction when I read about the article in the papers. I was not angry, however I was more afraid of the implications it could bring to the Muslim communities all over the world. It added to our already much publicized controversies and it will certainly make the non-Muslims question the integrity of Islam. If it is not well taken care of, many Muslims might be misled to the extent it can be very dangerous for the developments of Islam.
Dr. Amina Wadud sparked off yet another controversy when she held the Friday prayer in a chapel at America. what made it worse was the fact that she led the prayer which included men as her `ma`mum`. The number one rule is, a woman cannot lead a congregational prayer when the `ma`mum` consists of men and boys, however it is possible for her to do so when the `ma`mum` consist of only women. It is stated clearly and I am sure every born Muslim regardless a devouted one or not knows of this fact. She is a professor at one of the university in the United states teaching Islamic History. One would consider her as an educated lot and has achieved impressive educational qualifications in her field of study to get to where she is right now.
Educated is the key characteristic here and as much as I am impressed of the field of her expertise, I am also very much afraid and disappointed with her. Her reason for doing the thing she did is to uphold the rights of women in Islam. Many have been misinformed about Islam and many thought that Islam is a religion which oppresses women making them as a second class citizen which is absolutely false. She wants to state her point that women are equal to men and they are as capable as men in all aspects of life including leading Friday prayers failing to look further with careful analysis of the very fundamentals of Islam.
I can understand her intention and from the surface she means well, however her ways to be heard is absolutely unacceptable. She goes against the rule of Islam and what is even worrying is she does not do it alone but with a whole lot of other Muslims men and women who joined her in the prayer. Imagine what could possibly happen if the Muslim authorities do not interfere with her actions. The situation is ironic because in her effort to uphold her stand in fighting for women's rights in Islam, she is simultaneously violating Islam and misleading the people. There are many Muslims who do not practice the teachings of Islam but it is even more tragic to practice the teachings of Islam only to misdirect other fellow Muslims into believing what is prohibited in Islam is fine to do. For a second while reading the article, I thought to myself, I know how I lead my life as a lesbian is sinfully wrong and I am never proud of it. I am aware that I go against Islam and I never try to make people think it is right to be a lesbian. Therefore, I could not help but to ponder if those Muslims were aware of what they did. I wonder if they knew it is not right but they still did it because they have been influenced by the professor's theories on women's right in Islam.
There were pictures of them showing the professor as the 'Imam' and when I studied the picture, there was a woman praying beside some men with her aurat, her head, hair and neck exposed and I can only looked at the picture in disbelieve. I was totally appalled and was taken aback. The only conclusion I can gather is that humans are trying to outsmart God and apply their own way of thinking and understanding into the practices of Islam. Whatever happens to the rule of Sufi? Didn't the professor take that into consideration before she embarks on her shocking crusade? How can she even allow a woman `ma`mum` without covering her aurat to pray behind her? If she can’t even ensure that minimum requirement is meet to pray, then I cannot stop wondering what does she want to prove here.
There are other methods of upholding your beliefs in something. There are many ways to make yourself be heard and there are definitely more channel for you to voice out your opinions on something. Her stand was to solely give the message to the mass of the equality between men and women in Islam. Perhaps she has been too engrossed in her efforts to give a spectacular performance failing to open her eyes to see that there are already many successful Muslim women in the world today that has made a name for themselves and even rule countries. To name a few, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia and Begum Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh. What about Shirin Ebadi the first Muslim woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize from Iran? A lawyer noted for promoting the rights of women and children by seeking changes in Iran's divorce and inheritance laws, can't she be someone the Muslim women look up to as an idol for Muslim women's success in the history of the world?
What about Halimah Yakoob, the first Singapore Muslim woman who paved her way for success and now a member of the parliament. she represents the whole community of Muslim women in Singapore and many are proud of her contributions. What about Marina Mahathir who is the President of the Malaysian AIDS Council and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation, Datuk Azalina Othman the Sports Minister of Malaysia and Datuk Dr. Mashita Ibrahim? I believe for Dr. Amina Wadud to state that women must have equal rights as men in Islam is something which she has to study and research with great details because the holy Quran does not have anything in it that state women are second class citizen. If the rights of Muslim women are limited as my vocabulary, then I am sure we will not see and have many exemplary successful Muslim women that has won themselves some of the most coveted awards and hold office.
Dr. Amina Wadud has to know that in most cases customs and traditions have been mixed with religion and when too much of them have been mixed with religion, it can give the impression that it is the religion that demands such practices in life. This will automatically allow other non-believers or even the believers of Islam to think that Islam is a religion that discriminates women. One has to do a lot of homework, research and analysis before jumping into such bias conclusion. One religion has too many different followers from diverse backgrounds and races. It is inevitable not to mix traditions with religion.
When I was studying for my A level, a teacher teaching general paper took the initiative to read the English version of the holy Quran and told the class openly that there are no oppressions or discriminations in Islam against women. She is a non-Muslim and why do you think she bothered? Perhaps she is someone of high integrity who prefers to be fair before giving out judgements on other people’s faith.
I was imagining a scenario where a Muslim gay fights for his rights proclaiming it under the term of human rights. He may have a case in the court of law but he will be burnt in hell. Once, a Muslim man spoke to me before of how disappointed he was when his lottery ticket did not win first prize and he went on to say that God probably did not make him win because God knows he would perhaps be greedy if He lets him wins. I was thinking to myself, how can he even has an inkling of such an idea when what he did to get rich quick is already questionable in Islam? In my opinion, God probably didn't let him win because God wants him to get rich in a respectful manner. We are indeed humans with flaws and weaknesses that sometimes when we think of reasons and excuses for our actions, we fail to take logic and religious grounds into considerations.
We need to have rules and regulations which can guide us. We must have a code of conduct to ensure people behave in accordance with the suggested guidelines. Schools, offices, universities, colleges and even the ministers in the cabinet have certain rules for them to obey. That applies to religions as well, there are flexibilities to some rules and regulations, however one must not go far and beyond until the extent of confusing and misleading the mass with our own baseless personal beliefs. We have to register in our brain that acts which are considered 'haram' in Islam cannot be made 'halal' even though it is for a good cause. For example, it is still 'haram' to buy a lottery ticket with the hope to win the big prize money in order to help our parents to settle the high hospital bills. Even though the intention is good but the act to get the intention done is 'haram' and it will remains as haram. It is clear that her intention is a good one but she did not make her stand to uphold her beliefs in an acceptable manner instead she is indirectly insulting Islam which was why many Muslims have ordered her to be punished and even killed.
I too has gone astray and it is nothing but shame and disgrace I brought upon myself but it is even more disgraceful to carry out our own personal beliefs which is against the teachings of Islam and then feel no wrong about it and what's worse is to manipulate the rest of the people to follow suit.
Time and again we are encouraged to think out of the box and to pursue for knowledge as much as we can get. Nevertheless, in the process of doing that we must disallow ourselves to get too carried away with extreme idealistic argument till the extent that we jeopardize our own belief and comprehension of our faith. We must bear in mind that no matter how much or how little we have achieved academically, we are after all humans with qualities that are not comparable to God. We are nothing and nowhere near him and we must not challenge his intelligence because he is the most gracious and the most merciful. In my opinion, this only happened because she failed to see the beauty of Islam and did not allow the logic of Islam on the whole to influence her. It is then right to say that a person deemed to have achieved academic excellence does not necessarily be right all the time or able to make sound arguments in his crusade to champion a certain cause.
