User:Ashthygesen/Fazlur Rahman Malik

Fazlur Rahman and Feminism
Fazlur Rahman did not call himself a feminist when he was alive, and people don’t usually outright label him as a feminist. However, some feminists, such as Amina Wadud and Sa’diyyah Shaikh, have claimed to be inspired or influenced by Fazlur Rahman’s ideas. Also, some feminists, such as Tamara Sonn, imply that Rahman’s thoughts contributed to Islamic Feminism. Therefore, the following paragraphs will summarize how different feminists and people have been influenced by Rahman, and claims of Rahman contributing to Islamic Feminist Hermeneutic theory and Islamic feminism.

Mohammed Ali Ismail and Fazlur Rahman
Mohammed Ali Ismail discusses how Fazlur Rahman contributed to the creation of the contextual approach for examining the Qur’an. The contextual approach when examining the Qur’an means to understand that the Qur’an was created in a specific time and influenced by certain people; therefore, it is context-specific to the time it was created. Rahman says that two things or what he calls “a twofold movement” need to be done when trying to interpret the Qur’an into modern times, and through these ideas, his support of a contextual approach to the Qur’an is evident. The first thing Rahman says is modern people need to keep in mind the context of when the Qur’an was made. The second thing Rahman says that needs to be considered is modern social changes that would not have been possible in the time the Qur’an was made. People such as Abdullah Saeed and Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd also support the contextual approach. Amina Wadud and Sa'diyyah Shaikh claim to be inspired by Rhman's ideas such as his contextual approach to the Qur'an. But some argue that Rahman and the contextual approach is not sufficient to interpret the Qur’an into modern time.

Na’Eem Jeenah and Fazlur Rahman
Na’Eem Jeenah argues that Fazlur Rahman’s ideas should be combined with Paul Ricoeur’s ideas when interpreting the Qur’an into modern times. By combining Rahman and Ricoeur’s ideas, Jeenah argues that an Islamic Feminist Hermeneutic approach should be used to interrupt the Qur’an. Rahman’s ideas are represented in the word feminist in the Islamic Feminist Hermeneutic approach since Rahman’s ideas of equal rights can be seen as feminist. Ricoeur’s ideas are represented by the word hermeneutic in the Islamic Feminist Hermeneutic approach. Ricoeur used a hermeneutic approach to understand the Qur’an, where the Qur’an is a primary text that would have no meaning without readers and interpreters. However, Jeenah argues that Ricoeur’s ideas do not work well with hadiths, and Rahman’s ideas can be used to make up for Ricoeur’s flaws. To better understand what an Islamic Feminist Hermeneutic approach is, it might be beneficial to take a step back and look at Islamic Feminism.

Raja Bahlul and Fazlur Rahman
Raja Bahlul argues that women’s rights are possible within the Islamic religion, and people do not have to choose between feminism and Islamic. Bahlul, like Fazlur Rahman takes a contextual approach to interpreting legal proceedings from the Qur’an. Bahlul argues that a legal procedure in the Qur’an may become irrelevant, due to drastic social changes compared to the time of the creation of the Qur’an. An example of a legal preceding that may no longer be relevant is verse 2:282, which says two female witnesses are the equivalent of one male witness. Rahman argues that two female witnesses are equivalent to one male witness, because they are not used to being witnesses and may need each other to remember details. But Rahman also says that as more women become witnesses, they will get used to the experience and no longer need another female to help them remember the event. Therefore, Bahlul uses Rahman to show that its possible to have feminist ideas within Islamic ideas without choosing one over the other.

Tamara Sonn and Fazlur Rahman
Tamara Sonn looks at Fazlur Rahman’s ideas on Islamic Reform and how he influenced Azizah al-Hibri, to show Rahman's contribution to Islamic Feminism. Rahman often said that the Qur’an “is not a legal document” to emphasize that there are few things in the Qur’an that are not up for interpretation. Rahman argues that the reader must keep in mind the context the Qur’an was made in to be able to interpret specific rules to general rules that can be applied to modern situations. al-Hibri agrees with Rahman that specific rules are not up for interpretation, such as worship practices, and general rules must be interpreted. One rule that al-Hibri argues is a general rule and not a specific rule is polygyny. Rahman saw polygyny in the Qur’an as something that occurred under specific circumstances, such as the Prophets, polygyny was becoming less common and monogamy becoming the norm. al-Hibri says that the Prophet (who was an example of polygyny) is not how men should live since the Prophet was unique and not comparable to the average man. al-Hibri takes a feminist approach in understanding the interpretation of the Qur’an verses about polygyny as patriarchal control. As opposed to Rahman, who sees polygyny as only applicable to specific contexts such as the Prophets. Therefore, Rahman is not against or for polygyny, but the context in which it occurs is the most important thing for him.

Interpreting the Qur’an
The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 2016 Fall version has a section called Roundtable: Feminism and Islam: Exploring the Boundaries of Critique, which includes articles from Asma Barlas, Amina Wadud and Aysha A. Hidayatullah, to name a few. Barlas critiques Hidayatullah’s ideas on how to interpret the Qur’an, and then there is another article within the same journal by Amina Wadud. Wadud debates on whether Barlas critique of Hidayatullah reverses the work done by Hidayatullah. Hidayatullah gets a chance to write their article, then Barlas closes the Roundtable with an article called “A Response.” Therefore, the Roundtable: Feminism and Islam: Exploring the Boundaries of Critique shows how complex debates on interpreting the Qur’an are. Fazlur Rahman has already influenced many feminists like Amina Wadud, who was part of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 2016 Fall version. Rahman will probably influence more people in the future; therefore, claims of his contribution to feminism may change over time.