Being a Muslim woman can be a lonely journey. I say journey because faith is often in flux: there are highs and lows, feelings of devotion and doubt, certainty of religious scripture and bouts of perplexity surrounding the patriarchal interpretations of it.
There are more than two billion Muslims in the world, with roughly half of us female, yet we are far from monolithic. Not only in cultures, customs and style preferences, but in religious views, too. Some accept centuries-old rulings as immutable; others feel the need to look at such traditions with fresh eyes. Among the minefield of opinions, finding your tribe of fellow Muslim women is not the easiest of endeavours.
I’ve lived in London, the Middle East and across the United States, but it was on Zoom that I finally found mine. Based out of Leeds, scholar and author Dr Sofia Rehman began a weekly book club centred on Islam and gender during the pandemic. More than five years later, her Sunday sessions remain non-negotiable commitments in my calendar. The online community spans all corners of the world, with members on a similar path of inquisition and introspection. Discussions are enlightening and empowering, and members (mostly women but sometimes men, too!) are compassionate and empathetic. We’re on the same page – literally, and figuratively.
In my experience, religious texts, lectures and spaces pertaining to Muslim women too often prioritise our roles in relation to men. Be modest, be pure, be obedient. It might not look like modern gender equality but there are just some things we just don’t question, is a common sentiment. There’s a reluctance to challenge traditional interpretations of religious scripture, even when they clearly contradict the egalitarian spirit that I know my religion is rooted in.
Why do men always pray in front of women? Why do women today still receive less inheritance than their brothers? How can polygamy be a fair practice in the present day? The dismal (if any) women’s sections at mosques, the hyper-focus on female modesty, unequal rights in marriage… the list goes on.
Courtesy of Hafsa Lodi
Rehman created a truly safe space where women need not feel fear when interrogating their faith. Through the book club, we’ve come to understand how some supposedly Islamic rulings may have been described for a particular time and place, and not necessarily prescribed for eternity. We find comfort in knowing that the Prophet Muhammad introduced regulations and preached messages that were profoundly feminist at the time, to a society that had previously viewed women as property to be owned. And we collectively lament how later ruling powers curtailed these liberties, stifling women rather than continuing to develop the faith’s emancipatory trajectory.