Gender equations: Beyond inherited frameworks

In almost all Muslim countries and communities there has been a history of resistance to a uniform, identical, authoritarian vision of society. Scholars grounded in the study of Islam have consistently challenged the traditional patriarchal monopoly over the interpretation of the feminine in Islam.

In a bid to recapture the spirit of Quranic revelation, several serious attempts have been made for a historical search and studied alternative interpretations with regard to determining the status of women.

The prevalence of patriarchal control has tended to restrict women's access to many aspects of Islamic religious space and life. Although segregation is not part of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which is obligatory for every man and woman, yet exclusion of women in other spheres seems to have swept the world of Islam since the 1970s. Restrictions are not uniform in Muslim countries, nor are women's rejoinders to them.

In the eyes of Allah, women and men are equal participants in both spiritual and material aspects of life. In several verses, the Quran refers to these aspects (H.Q. 33:35; 3: 195; 40:40). With reference to the Haji Ali Dargah controversy, it is interesting to note that visitation to the graveyards was recommended by the Prophet. Women were not excluded from this approval. This is because the concept and wisdom of visiting graveyards was said to be twofold — the reminder of the inevitability of death and accountability for actions in the Hereafter, and to offer prayers for mercy and forgiveness for departed ones.

Hence, the purpose of visiting graves is to remember the Hereafter, which is something that both men and women need. Men are by no means more in need of this reminder than women. It was never to go there and pray for ourselves, or make the dead speak or help us in our prayers.

The claims of a handful of Wahhabi dissenters can't be used as a blanket opinion for all. Perhaps visiting graves was not held permissible for men and women alike in early Islam as attachment and supplication to the dead were widespread. In Islam, worship is meant only for God and there is no second opinion in that. Thus, it was avoided as a preventative measure to avoid grave worship. But once the teachings of Islam were well established, visiting graves became permissible as they were reminders of death and the Hereafter.

The negative implication in the contemporary Muslim world, where women are barred entry to the sanctum sanctorum is not witnessed in several Muslim countries. In Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Iran and elsewhere, both men and women visit Sufi shrines and tombs alike. In India, without fuss, men and women of every faith and creed visit the celebrated shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Mohinuddin Chisti and several others.

Vetoing the earlier permissibility to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the Haji Ali Dargah is in contravention of the spirit. Such a dictum needs reversal.

Dr Zeenat Shakat Ali, author of Marriage and Divorce in Islam: Appraisal and Empowerment of Women In Islam