Reclaiming the Mosque

The most famous Ḥadīth collection, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, records ‘Umar, theSecond Caliph, to have said, “We did not value women as anything duringthe ‘period of ignorance’ until Islam came and started mentioning them,because of which we took into consideration their rights upon us” (ḤadīthNo. 5505). This narration, along with a multitude of other Qur’anic injunctionsand Prophetic sayings, plus the practice of the Prophetic era, makes it clear that Islam elevates the status of women, encourages (indeed ensures)their participation in the society, and makes them the vibrant contributorsalongside men. But, ironically, in the subsequent periods of Muslim history,the jurisdiction of women in Muslim societies was reduced to the confinesof the household, depriving them of active social participation. While thereis no denying that some external political factors and cultural influences ledto this situation, the ‘religious’/ ‘Islamic’ overtone given to this non-Islamicdiscrimination against women is most unfortunate ...