A recent post by sister Baraka got me thinking. She said:

When I look back at 1,400 years of Islamic scholarship, I see the lack of women. A woman can definitely come to the same conclusions as a man, for good or bad, but I can’t help but believe that had we had over a millenia of women’s scholarship, Islamic law and interpretations would look quite different in some cases.

I have heard a similar critique of traditional Islamic scholarship from my wife’s mother, who happens to be a (retired?) scholar herself. I can’t help but think that, if the shi’a view of Islamic history had become dominant in the Muslim world, the role of women in the schools of Islamic thought might be somewhat different.

To understand this fully, we should examine the status of the greatest woman among Shi’a scholars, Sayyida Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them both). Both Sunni and Shi’a agree on the hadith mentioning her as the “leader of all women” or in some narrations “leader of the women of Paradise” (which is the only women I’d want to be leader of anyway, so basically it means “all believing women” in both narrations).

There is no disputing her level of piety, her resolve, her love of her father, and her attachment to worship of Allah. What seems to be somewhat absent from Sunni jurisprudence and theology is her role as a religious leader. For Shi’a, her role is clear. She is one of the 14 ma’sumeen (which includes the Prophet and the 12 Imams). Furthermore, the lineage of the 11 Imams from her progeny trace back to the Prophet through her, which is feminist in its own right, considering that many Muslims, even till this day, will only trace a lineage through the father.

Clearly, anyone claiming to be a “sayyid” (descendant of the Prophet) must do so through the maternity of Fatimah, for being a descendant of Ali does not make one a descendent of the Prophet (take, for example, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah).

In respect of her level of knowledge, it is clear that the Prophet considered her among the most knowledgeable people (not just women) of this Ummah. In the pecking of order of knowledge, she outranked any companion, female or male, and only her husband, Imam Ali, could either come close or surpass her knowledge. As such, the Prophet entrusted her with a monumental text, something that formed the foundation of Shi’i thought for the 14 centuries that followed.

Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said:
“… We have with us the Book of Fatimah, but I do not claim that anything of the Quran is in it.” (al-Kafi)

From this, we can conclude that it is not a book (mushaf) containing the text of the Qur’an. It is also not another “shi’a Qur’an” as some have falsely claimed.

He continued, “”There is nothing of what is permitted and what is forbidden (al-Halal and al-Haram) in this; but in it is the knowledge of what will happen.” (al-Kafi)

This book was passed through each of the Imams and continues to be held by the last Imam, who will occupy the office for the remainder of time (al-Qa`im).

Shi’a hadith books also contain her maxims, speeches, and narrations. Most of them are absent from Sunni literature, most likely because of the controversy surrounding her death (which is often not mentioned by Sunnis at all — the location of her grave remains a mystery).

One of the highest positions that a human being can occupy (ma’sum) was given to this woman. She was sinless, beyond her years in wisdom, and beloved by an entire nation (Ummah). There is no controversy surrounding her piety and no doubt about her sincerity.

For the Sunni world, it is the Mother of the Believers, A’isha, who is most often mentioned when one asks about knowledgeable women surrounding the Prophet. However, in Sunni eyes, she was only a jurist (mujtahid), capable of error. But Fatimah, in the eyes of shi’a was sinless, representing the concept of the perfect human being (insan al-Kamil), held by only a few throughout history. She occupies a unique position with women such as Maryam, mother of Jesus, and Assiya, wife of Pharoah.

As we travel through history, we find other women taking leadership positions. Sayyida Zaynab, daughter of Fatimah (peace be upon her) became the champion of the Muslim Ummah, which had been defiled by the scourge of ‘Umar b. Sa’d, Ziyad son of his mother, and Yazid b. Mu’awiyah, lifting up the abused sisters of Islam and the oppressed followers of Ahlul-bayt when the leader of people on earth, Imam Husayn b. ‘Ali, her own brother, had been mercilessly slaughtered.

The courage that she showed in Yazid’s court is a legendary example of feminine strength and honor. The practice that she established, referred to as majlis, where followers of Ahlul-bayt gather and remember Imam Husayn, Zaynab, their family, and their companions, has endured till this day. Even unto this day, her grave site in Damascus is visited by thousands who remember her valor. Moreover, she was a scholar of Islam, and student of her mother, and a loyal friend and companion of her brother.

The list could go on through Shi’a history of pious and knowledgeable women, including Shahzanan, mother of Imam ‘Ali Zayn al-’Abideen, Fatimah Ma’sumah, sister of Imam ‘Ali al-Ridha, and countless other beacons of light.

Today there are entire institutions in Syria and Iran dedicated to female scholars, followers of Ahlul-bayt, who model the strength and femininity of Sayyida Fatimah.

The question that arises is why these modern female scholars are not heard, why their rulings are not documented, and why their opinions are not represented? The position of marja’ (the highest religious authority, one who gives religious verdicts in shi’a fiqh) has not been held by a woman, yet there are numerous women mujtahids (jurists). Some marja’ have ruled female marjiy’a to be impermissible. Others have remained silent on the issue. A few have questioned it.

But aside from fiqh, there are many areas of Islamic sciences where we should see female names: tafsir, hadith, etc. Why has our modernity covered our female scholars, while our history exalted them? I suspect that a quick look into Sunni history will reveal a similar pattern.

Shi’a beliefs are unquestionably infused with feminist elements. The reason why those beliefs are not always put into practice is most likely a social question rather than a religious one. Male dominated households, particularly in the Middle East, have a way of limiting even religious freedom. This is a cultural construct, not a religious one. It is a circumstantial restriction and not a necessary one. In the West, especially in indigenous Muslim households, we should move beyond those restrictions and encourage our daughters to excel in all areas of Islamic sciences.

Occasionally, I am reminded that I am not only a OneUmmah.net member, I’m also the webmaster. During such epiphanies, I actually become productive. Anyway, we’ve made some drastic improvements. The old Islamic Library is no more. For the past couple of years, we’ve been using Xoops, particularly, its LINKS section, which is far superior to other links components/modules of other content management systems.

Anyhow, it has long been time to move on, but I was offered no practical solutions. Last year, I migrated OneUmmah.net’s main site from standalone to Mambo. In the past few months, we have upgraded our Mambo install to Joomla. Stay with me. Recently, I discovered a mambo/joomla component for links (similar to a yahoo!-esque directory format), called Bookmarks. To make a long story short, I ended up using a hack of this component, Joomla Business Directory. I then proceeded to rip apart the language file, until all of the words fit the Library. Naturally, all of these CMSes are released under the GNU GPL.

I still have many records to re-enter into the database, but you’re welcome to browse through the catalog now at Islamic Library. It’s funny. There are many works on there that I’ve even forgotten we had, such as Jalaluddin Abdur-rahman Suyuti’s Ihya al-Mayyit bi fadhail Ahl-al-Bayt (loosely translated as the Revival from Death with the Merits of The People of the House), or as the translators cleverly devised, The Dead Come Alive By the Grace of the Holy Five — sounds like a song, right?).

I also found a searchbot that integrates the library into the entire site’s search engine, making finding things even easier.

Now, if i can only finish that Islam FAQ (by the way, volunteers are welcomed, but not paid).

Muslim Writers Society (MWS) is currently looking for volunteer editors. Responsibilities include:

1. Checking submissions regularly.
2. Editing poems, stories, and articles.
3. Publishing material online.
4. Helping with compilation of print materials.
5. Report to MWS administrator.

Send your letter of interest, including your skills and credentials to One Ummah Network.

My brother from another mother, Abdul-Halim, over at Planet Grenada, recently posted about the Shi’i influence on Sufism and the Shi’a influence in Egypt.

His perspective is that of a Sunni looking in, and so I thought it might be beneficial to view the perspective of a Shi’a looking out into the rest of the Muslim Ummah. Many explanations of the Sunni-Shi’a “split” are oversimplified. The brother’s excerpt of Dr. Aminah McCloud’s analysis of the split illustrates the tendency to look at the issue as black and white, when in relaity, there are may gray areas.

(1) For Dr. McCloud, it is a political split that has little bearing on today’s society. (2) For many Sunnis, the split is a matter of jurisprudence. There are four valid Sunni schools, and many do not consider the Ja’fari, Zaidi, or Ismaili to be among them. (3) For others, it is a matter of ‘aqidah (creed). The shi’a obviously have beliefs that do not fit into either of the Sunni schools of ‘aqidah. (4) Still others are turned off by the esoteric nature of Shi’i thought, particular in relation to the 12th Imam. Most Sunnis who follow sufi teachings, however, lean closer to that esoteric thought than other Sunnis.

The truth of the matter is that they are all correct.

1. The dominant shi’a school (Imami Ithna ‘Ashari — also referred to as Ja’fari) has a different political thought: only an Imam from Ahlul-bayt can occupy the highest political position (khalifah).

2. The Ja’fari school of fiqh is different from the four Sunni schools, with different sources of ahadith, and different exegesis of the Qur’an.

3. The Imami ‘aqidah is different, particularly because it includes the principle of imamah as part of it. You can read a book about the ‘aqidah at OneUmmah.net, uploaded by yours truly.

4. Many traditional Sunnis recognize that the esoteric teachings of Sufism are a integral part of Islam. There was an effort among some Sunnis to separate those teachings from Islam. In the Shi’a thought, this attempt at separation never occurred. Although there is a movement of ‘irfan, which seeks to make it more prominent, even the staunchest anti-sufi shi’a ‘alim is still very much ingrained with shi’a esoteric thought. In this sense, one could say that shi’a have their own tariqa (sufi order), and those who have studied the works of luminaries such as Bahr-Ulum or, more recently, ‘Allamah Tabataba`i, would recognize this.

One can conclude, from the above four points, that the shi’a split was essentially a different perspective on Islam from each of the major aspects of Islamic thought. What I have not included is philosophy, not because there is not a difference, but because I am not even qualified to write one sentence about it. This perspective hinges completely on the concept of imamah, because it is from the Imams of Ahlul-bayt that their followers gather around their principles of ‘aqidah, politics, fiqh, and sufism. The question I would ask to Dr. McCloud is: casting aside the political issue, where do you stand on the other issues (fiqh, ‘aqidah, etc.)? Those are the real relevant issues that effect both Sunnis and Shi’as today. What I have discovered is that the differences pale in comparison to the similarities.

Those who seek to cause discord would most likely find reasons to fight one other even without the sunni-shi’a split. Even now, they fight over tribal issues, using Sunni and Shi’a identities as their own personal tribal affiliations. They are more like gang members than students of religious schools of thought. And Allah knows best!