Maryam Amir – Are Women Equal to Men
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AI: Transcript ©
I'm gonna play a recitation for you Inshallah, and I'd like you to
tell me who the reciter is.
My
Abdul Basset, could you hear all the way in the back? All right,
let me play another reciter for you, and I'd like you to tell me
who this reciter is
on.
You're saying hassari.
Hassari. Okay, so you're saying the
President of the boss hit the second one is hassari
Armin, shall we?
They're not sure. Okay, any other guesses?
The blawi?
You think it's a woman
that's crazy. What?
All right, let's do one more.
Oh,
min, shall we again? Love?
Ah.
Okay, so I heard minchai again. Anyone else?
Those are the only two I could only be doing those two. Okay, the
first one is Abdul Basit. For all those who guess Abu Bakr, the
second was Haja um. Her name is Haj abusum, Vince Muhammad Zain,
and she is Malaysian
mashaAllah, Malaysian reciters. And then the third one is Sheikha
rahmat Abdullah, and she is a Malaysian reciter as well
Allahu Akbar Sheik Abdul Basit has a style that we all know. Sheik
Abdul Basit has this very specific style that is very
clearly Sheik Abdul Basit. But my Sheik Sheik Sheik mahathul told me
that Sheik Abdul Basit was taught by Sheikha om Saad. Sheik um Saad,
who passed away around 2006 may Allah have mercy on her. She had
the shortest Senate in the world in one rewire of Akira. And so men
and women would travel from Saudi from Kuwait, from Palestine, to go
study under her, because they wanted to be able to learn from
the woman who had the shortest Senate.
Her teacher was Sheikha kirima. Sheikha kerima was in a time
period where, in Cairo there were five women who were Quran reciters
on Egypt's Quran channel. Right before that time period. We have a
recording from 1911 Sheikha mabruka, and I'd like to share
with you her recitation. And I'd like you to tell me who she sounds
like. Okay,
me,
Queen,
who does she sound like?
Or who does Abdul Basit sound like?
If Sheikha mabruka Sounded like that in 1911
Shaykh, Abdul Basit, Rahim hola passed away in the 1980s he lived
for about 60 years, a little more Rahmatullah. Are they?
When we ask the question, are women and men equal? Oftentimes,
the reason why we ask that question, when women ask me this
question, are men and women equal in Islam,
the reason women ask me this question is often because women
don't feel seen, they don't feel heard, they don't feel like we
don't feel like our rights are given to women,
as Dr Rania so eloquently talked about, we are often put in
particular boxes, as a set of his mentioned, oftentimes we are
asking this question because We don't see the impact of women's
voices on our scholarship, on our leadership throughout our history.
And so sometimes, when we're hearing about how we're supposed
to be the Ideal Muslim woman, and it's only in one particular lens,
over and over and over and what if we don't fit that lens? For
whatever reason, we struggle with that question. And at the core of
the question is, where are women in the first place?
When we talk about Khadija, Radi Allahu Aha, when we speak about
Khadija to individuals who are not Muslim, what are the mega speaking
points you often hear she was a businesswoman. She was older than
the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam. She was a widow. She
proposed to him. SallAllahu, alayhi wa sallam. Look at how
empowered women are in Islam, a widow or a woman who is divorced,
a woman who is older than her husband by a lot, a woman who is a
businesswoman, a woman who wants to propose to a man in our
community, are any of those words regularly, words that we use to
talk about how wonderful the women in our community are? Do we speak
with that same passion and love that we speak about Khadija
radila, or do we tokenize those items? Express them to say, Look
at how beautiful Islam is, but women who are struggling in our
community do not feel that same love, and that's where that
question comes from. When you look at Khadija Radi Allahu Aha, and
the way that she was the woman who supported the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam
received the revelation Abu lahimdahi,
Rahman Al Rahim,
this.
Who did he run to salahu alayhi wa sallam, he ran to Khadijah, and we
know about this part of her story, someone who comforted him, someone
who cared for him, someone who held him, covered him, covered
him. Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, we know about her as a wife. We
know about her financially supporting the Dawah of the
Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. We know about her and the
mothering that she cared so much for her children, radiAllahu anha.
But do we know of her as a political rebel because Khadija,
radiAllahu anha didn't simply accept a message that said, Change
your private belief and tell no one. Khadija radiAllahu anha
accepted a belief which brought societal and economic
transformation that is a political revolution, and she put her body,
quite literally on the line. She literally died because of this
message. Rodi Allahu anha, and yet, when we speak about her, and
we don't speak to the reality that we experience as women in the same
way that the UMA hat or that the Companions who were women
experience, sometimes we feel so far removed from them when we look
at Asmaa, the daughter of Abu Bakr Al Rama, many of us know that she
was known as the who,
yes, the woman who had, who had these two belts, she ripped her
own clothing so that she can help provide provision for the Prophet
sallallahu, alayhi wasallam Abu Bakr. We know this about her. Did
you know that she's also in her third trimester of pregnancy? When
she was doing this, she was physically assaulted by the people
of the Quraysh to give up the information, questioning her, to
give up the information of who to them.
To them fugitives, sallAllahu, alayhi wa sallam and Radi Allahu
Anhu.
They were seeking political asylum. Who aided them, Asmaa Radi
Allahu, anha. When we look at the woman who came to Aqaba,
there were women who were present, women who came to pledge
allegiance to the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam. This
is a political act.
When we look at.
Asmaa. Roll, the Allahu anha bint, umais, Asmaa bint, umays. She's
often known as the wife of Jaffa rodi Allahu Anhu. And after he
passed away, she later married Abu Bakr Radi Allahu Anhu. And after
he passed away, and she was nursing him as he was sick towards
the end of his life. Roll, the Allahu anhuma. She then married
Ali Radi Allahu, Anh. She was this woman who was pan Allah, married
to the best of men,
and yet, if we've heard of her, it's often only because of who she
married, which is enough, honestly, that is amazing.
But she helped change the culture of how the people who migrated
from Abyssinia to Medina were seen
Asmaa Wadi Lahu anha migrated from Mecca, and then she migrated to
Abyssinia, and then from Abyssinia she migrated about seven years
later to Medina. And when she moved to Medina, and she was
sitting with Hafsah, the daughter of Amar odila, Horan Huma,
Alma RadiAllahu, Anhu realized who she is. And you know what he said
to her, that she was from the people of the ship.
And he asserted that OMA RadiAllahu, Anhu and his
companions were there before her. And so he said, We got here first.
We have more of a right to the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa
sallam, than you do
Allahu. Anhu is promised paradise. Shaytan runs away from Amar.
It's acceptable to be terrified of saying anything in front of Amar.
Radila An or out of humility because of the maqam of amaraldi,
Allahu, anhu,
but Asmaa, RadiAllahu, anha, she didn't say, you're making me feel
like I don't belong here, and I'm not going to say anything about
it. She didn't say, you're right. Men do have more of a right to the
masjid than women do. You're right. Women shouldn't come to the
masjid at all. She didn't say, oh, women who are converts don't have
more of a right than women who are born Muslim.
She didn't say, oh, women who are married have more of a right than
women who are not. Women who have children more of a right than
women who don't. All of these realities that our community,
women who are extroverted are absolutely never pious because of
your personality, in and of itself, these messages that we so
often hear in our community, the omarodi, Allahu anhu, when he said
this to her, she responded with strength. She spoke about how she
was angered by his word. She got angry, and she said that she's not
going to eat or drink until she goes to the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam and tells him exactly what Amar RadiAllahu, Anhu
said. She said that we were in abyss. You were with sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, and they were hungry and they were tired, and
they were not being taught directly by the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, ama RadiAllahu, Anhu and his companions had all of
those privileges, and then to say she doesn't belong with the
Prophet sallallahu sallam, as much rule the Allahu akhu Obviously
promised paradise. May Allah honor us with being with him. Rule The
Allahu akhu. Allmar story is so amazing because you can quite
literally see a transformation of someone who didn't value woman to
someone who became such an advocate for women. She goes
to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's response is to say that all moral
the Allahu Anhu and his companions do not have more of a right
than Asmaa and her companions,
the AMA RadiAllahu, Anhu and his companions made hijra once. The
people of the ship made hijra twice. They are double rewarded.
And so when Asmaa shared this narration with a narration of Abu
Musa al Asha Ari and the Companions who came from the ship.
They were overjoyed, and they asked to hear it over and over and
over again. They kept coming to her, asking to hear this
narration. She changed the way that people saw the people of the
ship, because she used her agency of voice. She saw that she was
needed in a space, and She asserted her right to be there.
Rodi Allahu, anha.
When we look at Nusrah, anha, which everyone knows as though a
defender of the Prophet, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, who
defended him in Uhud, everywhere he looks, salahay wasallam from
the left to the right, she was there defending him. He sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, she In she participated in seven battles, and
in one of them, her arm was cut off. And why this is so important
is because then she became a woman with a disability, and there were
men and women in the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, who had disabilities, like Abdullah ibn Al Maktoum, he was
the adzen of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam, with be
that royalty Allahu Anh and Abdullah ibn Al maqtom was blind,
and the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wasallam put him in charge of the
city of Medina on more than one occasion, when he left the city
SallAllahu, alayhi wasallam asking him to lead the salah.
And he died as a shahid, being the flag bearer of the Muslims.
Despite the fact that he was blind, he was on the front lines
one.
When we talk about the example the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam
set for his community, he took those who were targeted for their
vulnerabilities in the courageous time, and he put them in
leadership. And we see that that changed the culture of how people
viewed women, how people viewed individuals with disabilities, how
people saw believers, that your belief, your taqwa, your work for
the community, is where your worth is.
And when we look at these examples, Dr Asmaa zienta, she
completed a book that her father, who was a sheik, began writing,
and he passed away before he could finish it, Rahima Allah. And the
book is called the political role of woman in the time of the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the righteous khulafa.
The political role of woman in the time of the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam and the righteous khulafa, and she spoke about how
many times when we are introduced to women who are part of the
companions, rodi la Juan, Juan, we don't necessarily know them as we
just spoke about them in a political lens, for example,
because oftentimes the person writing a book is not looking for
that particular lens. Books are written, and then they are taught,
and then the students learn them, and then they teach them, and then
they're incorporated into curriculum. So if you have someone
who's writing a book and their lens is the Prophet sallallahu,
alayhi wa sallam, kindness, they will speak about those different
aspects, but maybe only leave that part of the Hadith that's
necessary to address in the in the context
and Abu shukka, who wrote Mara, which, by the way, was just
translated. The first volume is just out on Amazon. I
don't know how that what the translation is actually, but look
up,
maybe freedom and the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
Something like something like that. The translation is just
being published. Panel, after all these years, Abu shakas intention,
he wrote a book addressing the many miscon misunderstood a hadith
related to woman and woman's roles. And when he wanted to write
this book, he actually had intended to write a Sira book. And
so he went through Bukhari and Muslim, looking for authentic
Ahadith to include in the Sira book that he was writing. As he's
going through Bukhari and Muslim, he's coming after one Hadith after
another, coming up through one Hadith after another that has to
do with the woman companions and how they spoke to men, how they
were involved in society, how they were active in the masjid. And he
had never come across these Ahadith before. And so he started
calling up his friends in different factions of Egypt. He
called friends he had who were part of the Salafis and the Sufis
and all these different aspects of Egypt. And he said, Have you ever
come across these Ahadith that are in Bukhari and Muslim? And they
all said, no, they had no idea. So he shifted from writing a zero
book to writing a book on women's rights,
and it was banned in Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that the very
first volume only talks about the Hadith from Bukhari and Muslim and
the ayat in the Quran the address woman,
when we look at how women have been presented through history, we
can understand why sometimes we have one context presented, and
that's all we also learn. So when we look at the Hadith, for
example, there is a Hadith you might have heard of the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, walking with his wife, Sophia,
rodi Allahu anha, and they're walking together, and there are
these other companions who see them, and the Prophet sallallahu,
alayhi wasallam does what? Who knows?
What is it?
Yes, exactly. He's like he tell he, he clarifies SallAllahu, alas,
that he's walking with his wife. What context Have you heard this
hadith in a
Yes, exactly like Be careful not to get involved in something that
could be misunderstood. Be clear to people what your intentions
are, especially when it comes to men and women interacting with one
another. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was so careful
that he clarified for his own wife, RadiAllahu Anh, and he's a
prophet Sallallahu sallam. Is this the context which you've typically
heard this hadith in?
Why was Sophia with the Prophet sallallahu sallam? Does anyone
know?
Yes, she went to visit him while he was making a IQ Caf. Sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam. She just wanted to spend time with him. SallAllahu
so calf is a very, you know, it's a very sacred experience. I don't
like using the word sacred experience. I should say it's a
time where we are very quiet. We make the kid we don't engage in
talking for fun. It's a very focused time of worship. So fiaro
dilowa comes to just spend time with the Prophet. So.
She went to the masjid on her own. She didn't need someone to
accompany her to the masjid. The Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa
sallam didn't tell her, Oh, no, this isn't a good time. I mean, I
kept SallAllahu sallam, the Prophet sallallahu, Sallam spoke
with her, and then didn't say, have a good time walking home.
SallAllahu, alaihi wasallam to spend more time with her. He
walked her home. Salaam doesn't that put a different dimension on
her role as a wife and his role as a husband? Why is it when we talk
about the Hadith, it's only in the aspect of be cautious of shaytan,
when we could look back at the entire lens and say, and look at
how our relationships should be,
and look at how a mother of the believer chose to go to the masjid
for no other reason, that she wanted to visit her husband, and
that was fine. Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Let's take another
Hadith I showed all the Allahu Akha when she praised the woman of
the Ansar for what
their shyness never prevented them from asking.
What is the context of the Hadith. Why did she say that? Does anyone
know?
Close?
Yes, thank you. She was asking about *. And so Aisha
Radi Allahu anha made this statement. Have you ever known
maybe a few people thought periods something related to something
purifying. But has anyone ever learned that this hadith was
related to this question? Raise your hands if you've heard that
before. 123456,
when we lose context, we then don't know that the woman
companions asked these questions because they themselves had these
needs, had these these, these experiences. To the Prophet
himself, sallAllahu, alayhi wa sallam.
When we look at rodi Allahu anha, she was the wife of Amar
RadiAllahu Anh,
and she loved going to the masjid, and did AMR love that she would go
to the masjid? No, he didn't want her to actively go to the masjid.
And that wasn't a religious edict. It was because of his personality.
And we need to separate that out, because when we hear about this
aspect, we often hear, do you see Amma RadiAllahu? Hanhu, such a
righteous man he didn't even want his own wife to go to the masjid.
Do you hear it in that context that she was in the masjid when he
was stabbed? Rule The Allahu anhuma, that when he was stabbed,
he passed away Inshallah, martyred from that wound. Rule The Allahu
Anh, and she was in the masjid when he was stabbed.
Wouldn't you think that if someone is married to the ruler of the
Muslims, and she was in the masjid when he was murdered, or led to
the murder of him,
that maybe she wouldn't go to the masjid anymore, out of respect for
his wishes. Would you think that makes sense, that certainly the
context that I've heard her example be put in. But Ibn Hajar
mentioned that before she married Amar, it was put in the contract
that he could not prevent her from the masjid. And when she had a
conversation about ama Radi Allahu Anhu with Amar RadiAllahu, Anhu
like, Why? Why? What she she asked, Why doesn't he stop me? And
his response was the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
salam, do not prevent the maid servants of God from going to the
houses of God. His personal choice, his personal desire, did
not prevent her. He did not prevent her from accessing her
rights in Islam. He wouldn't put his own personal desire over the
command of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. So when we look
at radila anha, when she got remarried to azube,
did she'd not go to the masjid because she wanted to respect her
alma. Radila, one whose wishes, even though he had passed away,
she put it in her contract again to azube, that you
cannot stop me from going to the masjid
context is so critical, because when we hear a hadith on women,
oftentimes it sounds like there are a lot of questions women have,
because it seems like
we don't understand how that what that actually means. But was the
Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, maybe saying it to a group
of men.
And yes, of course, it applies to women still, but maybe the wording
would have been different if he was speaking to women. Salallahu
alaihi wasallam looking at the context is so critical, because it
allows us to go from asking the question, are men and women equal
to realizing that women were actively a part of shaping the
political, the socioeconomical, the religious society of the
Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam, and we recognize that
context, we can then also see why we have such a vast history of
women's scholarship in Islam. For example, you.
Ahmed dahabi, the great, excuse me, Ibn Hajar, the great Ibn hajj,
he studied with 53 women scholars,
Imam as sahawi, 68 woman scholars were his teachers,
O Muhammad Sheik O Muhammad. She was the Sheikah of the masjid in
Damascus.
Excuse me, in berdad, in Baghdad,
Aisha bin Abdul Hadi, she was the sheik of the masjid in Damascus.
There is a panel a beautiful narration from Ibn Rushd, who
mentions that he used to learn from a sheik and Shah Fatima in
the masjid of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and
she would rest her back. You know, the Masjid of the Prophet
sallallahu sallam, or the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is
buried. There's like an air. It's something outside of the grave of
the Prophet sallallahu was kind of like a barrier. She would rest her
back on that as she would teach Hadith. And men would come and
listen to her, and women would come and listen. And learn Hadith
from her, and then she would give them ijazza By her hand.
The examples of women in scholarship are too numerous to
count, and Sheik akhum nadui has done so much research in this
Subhanallah, you can read al wahadi fat in English, Al wafat
bin Asmaa in Arabic. He has a huge Encyclopedia of women scholars,
but this understanding of women's roles and who they were, as Shaykh
akhram actually mentions, has shifted over time, oftentimes due
to reasons unrelated to Islam in and of itself, or interpretations
within Islam that become the policy that then shift the way
generations look at a particular issue. So for example, when
Muslims started learning about Greek philosophy, they started
taking the Greek literature, translating it into Arabic and
Greek literature. We all know this talking point because we often
like to talk about it in our Dao seminars, they didn't used to see
women in the same way as men. They used to ask if women even had
souls. They questioned if women should even be given an education.
Do any of those questions seem familiar, though,
when we look at when they were translated, those who followed the
translations and merged them with Islamic literature, started seeing
women in the same light, and so when the rulers of the Muslim
ummah shifted and became those who followed this particular aspect,
they closed the schools that women used to teach in, they closed the
schools that women used to learn in. What do you think that's going
to do to a generation, to two generations to three generations?
It literally becomes, oh, you're just a Western feminist,
progressive Muslim who's trying to change Islam because you're saying
that woman can teach No, this is traditional Islam. We've allowed
all of these political conversations to impact the way we
see women. So perhaps you are the product actually. Perhaps you
should be asking yourself why you're making those claims.
Because when we look at the time of the Prophet salallahu, alayhi
wa sallam, until now, we have too many accounts in history of women
who taught, and of course, they did so in a way that was within
proper Islamic etiquette. Of course, they did so within the
guidelines of Islam. And I feel like saying that is redundant,
because it's obvious these are scholars of Islam, but even those
points are questioned at times. When we look at the fact that
women's recitation in particular, there's a difference of opinion on
women being Quran reciters in public. But these countries, like
Egypt, let me tell you, for example, like I started sharing
with you, the recitations of women from Malaysia, where women recite
all the time,
subhanAllah, we are so blessed. Inshallah be coming out with this
Quran app called Qari, a woman Quran reciters app. It's a Quran
reciters app for women to listen to women's recitation and I've had
conversations with the kharias. We have over 60 Arias, Alhamdulillah,
and they're from all over the world. Masha Allah, from from
Kenya to Indonesia, from Spain to Somalia, from Australia to the
United States, everywhere, mashallah and these women
oftentimes, when I mention, you know, we're getting pushback for
the app, even though it's a woman's app, we're getting
pushback. And they ask me, but why? And I'm like, because women
are not reside or something. And they're like, we've never heard
that before.
Their responses are our scholars never said that before. And I
think sharing that perspective is important, because we can choose
to follow an opinion that's absolutely acceptable, but we
should also share that there's another one, and in Egypt in
particular, do you know why it's not common to hear women reciters?
Because in the 1980s Shef Sara Deni, he.
A book that was introed by Sheikha shaharawi, the great scholar of
tafsir. Sheikha shaharawi wrote the introduction to Sheikha Sara
deni's book heavenly voices. And in this book, he talks about how
O Muhammad was a Sheikha who would recite the Quran for the Ottoman
ruler in the palace. And she's now buried next to Imam ashefari, may
Allah have mercy on both of them, and that women were reciters in
the hundreds. They were teachers in the hundreds
and in the in the mid 1900s after the world when World War Two
started, a past defatwa That it was haram to listen to a woman
reciting the Quran, so women stopped reciting on the radio, and
since then, Donald, if that has actually changed that fatwa. But
what's important to realize is that at that time, subhanAllah,
there's a reciter. His name is Sheik Mohammed as Shra can't say
his name correctly. Please forgive me, Sheik Mila, merci. That was so
awkward, right? I say, May Allah mercy on the sheik. Please forgive
me for not saying it correctly. He was the first Egyptian who recited
in mashallah in a professional capacity, and Subhanallah when he,
when he was, when he heard the ban. He used to recite the.