NMC103H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami, Islamic Culture, Sahabah
18 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
NMC 103H1-F
Women, Gender and Sexuality
October 7, 2014
Women and gender, a controversial topic
- globally, not specific to Islamic society
- in West, in Canada
- within Muslim societies, historically a wide range of opinion, practice
- a vast literature
Role of women in traditional societies
- basis of traditional society – the extended, patriarchal family (women are the cement
that keeps the family together. Primary role of that of women is a mother and have also
been educators, healers and also farmers. They grew food. They were business woman,
crosswomen, patrions of the arts and documents that show women endoving a document
in arts.
- cultural expectations and social standing of women derive from their roles as mothers.
They are taught to be obedient wives and daughters.
- repositories of the family’s honor—importance of virginity, chastity is of great
important and harsh treatment for adultery
- measures taken to control women
a) physical immobilization—the harem (ibn al hajj did not want to see women in
streets..)One of the caliphs forbade from wearing shoes so that they could confine women
from going out.we caqn compare this to footbinding in China/ wearing heels in the west
to this. another means of physical control would be female circumcision.
b) psychological conditioning; often taught childhood that they aren’t as
important as boys, menstruation as unclean. An example of a custom (dressing from head
to toe;veiling) that later gave them religious meaning.
• asma; compares ibn saad and ibn hajar al-asqalani in regard to some eminent
female sahaba (women that the prophet predicted wil go to heaven and were
exemplifiers). Ibn saads..
•
Islam’s attitude toward women
-conventional wisdom is that Islam improved status of women in Arab Bedouin society
- Muhammad against infanticide—female children had been buried alive
- legal position not uniformly unfavourable (women could initiate divorce, own
property and ingheret yet their second class sttus is reinforced by Islamic law and are not
equally related to men)
- divorce
- property & inheritance (when a husband passes away of a woman’s)
• The woman can inherit one-fourth of the inheritance if no children…….
- yet second-class status reinforced by Islamic law
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- religious rights and duties of women are fewer. The unequal treatment in the
islamicworld are true ofall societies. Why? Because traditional scoeities are patriarchal
and they afvor male over females.
•
Veiling
- terms for veil/veiling: hijab, chador, purda, niqab
• All traditional societies had headgear; nuns in the Catholic Church
• Veiling predates Islam validates Islam; it was at first a cultural/traditional act
before it became religious. It is NOT religious practice, it is a CULTURAL
practice.
• There was a cultural impact from the beginning.
• The practice of veiling must be seen in a cultural and environment context
• Mayhave started as a high class context. Prophet tells their wives to veil and
because they were so prominent in society he asked them to veil themselves
because they were getting too much attention.
• In the middle east it was important to stay away from the sun and dust so it was
protection against those elements but also it took on a class aspect to it; upper
classwomen were not supposed to be tanned and only peasents who worked in the
fields will be tanned. So if you were in the upper class you tried to keep your skin
as white as possible.
• Veiling today can mean some things; fashion rather than necessity where some
are beautiful and fashionably veiled and other times it may reflect political
protest against the West.
- practice must be seen in cultural and environmental context
- political protest vs West
- or it may be a political protest against regime
- expression of cultural identity especially in Europe and central America (to
identify oneselffrom another)
Ideals of Beauty
• Men also have to follow a certain rules in terms of modesty
- pre-Islamic Arab (white skin (moonlike), thin lips, arched eyebrows, black hair for
instance is considered beautiful)
- post-Mongol (13th c)
• Homosexuality was practised
Women in the Qur’an
- Women figure substantially in the Qur’an
- Q 4: Nisa’: rules regarding male/female relationships
- Q 19: Maryam: episodes from Mary’s life up to the birth of Jesus
- many other references to women, but women are unnamed
- references in Qur’an fall into 3 broad categories
- 1. pre-Islamic women of the Judeo-Christian scriptures
- 2. wives of the prophet and some unnamed women of Mecca & Medina
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Within muslim societies, historically a wide range of opinion, practice. Basis of traditional society the extended, patriarchal family (women are the cement that keeps the family together. Primary role of that of women is a mother and have also been educators, healers and also farmers. They were business woman, crosswomen, patrions of the arts and documents that show women endoving a document in arts. Cultural expectations and social standing of women derive from their roles as mothers. They are taught to be obedient wives and daughters. Repositories of the family"s honor importance of virginity, chastity is of great important and harsh treatment for adultery. Muhammad against infanticide female children had been buried alive. Legal position not uniformly unfavourable (women could initiate divorce, own. Conventional wisdom is that islam improved status of women in arab bedouin society property and ingheret yet their second class sttus is reinforced by islamic law and are not equally related to men)
