Fatima Mernissi’s Methodology of Inferring Gender Equality from the Qur’an and Sunnah

Introduction 

An unresolved debate exists around the methodology that Islamic feminism follows when interpreting sacred Islamic texts. While secular feminists claim that Islamic feminism is defensive and apologetic, orthodox Muslim scholars adhere to traditional interpretations of the Qur'an and Sunnah, claiming that Islamic feminists give misleading readings of Islamic sacred texts (Ahmed-Ghosh, 2008). Moroccan writer and sociologist, Fatima Mernissi, is one of the most prominent Islamic feminists. In her writings, she has presented unconventional interpretations of the Qur'an and Sunnah and the biography of the Prophet Muhammad, promoting equality between men and women in Islam. She has also criticized the social and political conditions that women experience in Morocco and the Arab countries (Malik, 2014).

This qualitative research attempts to present a new approach to criticizing Mernissi's method of inferring gender equality in Islam from the Qur’an and Sunnah. This research aims to assess the extent to which Fatima Mernissi was defensive and apologetic when reinterpreting the Islamic sacred texts. This will be done by examining the inconsistencies in her methodology. This research is ambitious, as this new approach could be employed to criticize more Islamic feminist writings, thereby contributing to the general criticism of Islamic feminism. It could also be used to test the validity and accuracy of Islamic feminist interpretations, as well as traditional orthodox readings.

Problem Statement

Criticisms of Islamic feminists, including Mernissi’s writings, are critiques of their interpretation of specific Quranic verses and Hadiths. These critiques are simply old orthodox readings or repeated presentations of Islamic texts, which are believed to support the notion of patriarchy and inequalities between men and women. Hence, a new methodology of criticism is needed to reduce the ambiguity around the accuracy and validity of Mernissi's readings of sacred Islamic texts and to assess the extent to which she was apologetic.
Research Aim

To critically analyze Fatima Mernissi's methodology of inferring gender equality from the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Research Objectives

To evaluate methodological principles derived from the arguments of Fatima Mernissi. 

To examine the inconsistencies of Mernissi’s methodological principles by tracking their applications in Quranic verses and Sunnah texts that relate to women.

Literature Review

Methodological principles derived from the arguments of Fatima Mernissi

Mernissi has never missed a chance to illustrate how the practices accredited to the Prophet are misappropriated, and how political, financial, and religious establishments have skewed the actual disparities between men and women, particularly women's empowerment supporters and traditionalist Muslim adversaries. Her earlier publications have been interpreted as rejecting Islamic teachings and/or promulgating secular agendas (Mernissi, 1991). Early on in her work, she conversely noted, contradictory to what is generally believed, that Islam does not promote the argument for the intrinsic oppression of women (Mernissi, 1987).

In contrast, Mernissi argues that Islam establishes the scope for equal rights between women and men. Given that Mernissi has condemned the male figures that created conservative Muslim institutions, individuals may consider her beliefs to be liberal and even anti-Islamic. Mernissi frequently assures everyone that the liberation of Muslim women is not complex and there is no need for unique activism; she even proposes the advocacy of men because conventional Islam respects fairness and equality (Mernissi, 1987: 19). She has questioned the validity of some of the Scriptures about the principles of the Qur'an, which offered total epistemological equality between men and women.

It is clear that her expression, ‘conventional Islam’, refers to the literal text of the Qur'an, as opposed to the conventional interpretations of the text or the current practice of Islam. Mernissi dedicated an entire book to the topic of women's leadership, which contradicted bin Abi Bakara's portrayal (Mernissi, 1991; Mernissi, 1993). Her criticism is focused primarily on the Hadith literature that has been traced back to the Prophet. Among the few authors who have quoted her work, Jamal al Banna has clarified the reason why the Prophet always forbade his disciples from recording his actions and statements, which was to not contradict the thoughts of the Prophet in the context of the Qur'an.

Applications of methodological principles in Quranic verses and Sunnah texts related to women.

The Qur'an does not chronologically describe the cycle of the formation of man and woman. It does, however, primarily and fundamentally appreciate and view women as an integral part of the world as a human  (Muttaqin, 2017). The presence of a woman is deemed to be as essential as the presence of a male by the Qur'an. God, the Almighty, as the Qur'an teaches us, offers equal benefits to those who do good actions and equal punishments to those who carry out bad deeds. There is no single verse that encourages and supports injustice on the grounds of gender. Even though it may seem that some verses offer additional rights to men, such as verses addressing succession, polygyny, testimony, etc., such verses have been interpreted as solutions to specific questions of different narratives (Ghafournia, 2017). A large proportion of the ulema and Qur'an commentators hold the opinion that the general meaning should be given priority, i.e., that the legal system must be ascertained based on the textual aspect of the verses (Leemhuis, 2010). However, certain ulema may consider the unique contextual elements of the verses (MOHAMMADI, MOHAMMADI, and SAEIDI, 2015).

Polygyny is perhaps the most misguided and widely condemned Islamic tradition by non-Muslims. Polygyny is seen as an alternative to the law of monogamous relationships, and its occurrence is heavily affected by the influence of society. Polygyny is neither necessary nor promoted; it is only allowed under unusual conditions and is not explicitly prohibited in Surah Al-Nisa (Hinchcliffe, 2017). 

Furthermore, Hadith reflects the same notions as the Qur’an. For instance, a woman in Islam is bestowed with complete freedom in the marriage contract. Marriage in Islam is a contractual relationship and a woman has the complete power to accept or rescind a marriage contract. A woman’s acceptance is a requirement for the validity of a marriage contract by the Hadith (Ibnouf, 2015).

Gender equality and the rights of women in Islam

Gender equality is a global development goal because it has been recognized as a basic human right. The concept of gender equality in Islam is demonstrated by the absence of the dominance of one sex over the other. (Barlas, 2019). There are no Islamic writings, such as the Quranic verses or the Hadith, that suggest that there is a requirement for women to remain indoors (Leemhuis, 2010). In contrast, Allah granted women and men the same fundamental obligations (Ali, 2015). Historical sources indicate that women have engaged in public life since early Muslims, particularly in times of emergency. Women have been seen to support the Muslim armed forces during wartime by healing the injured, preparing materials, and assisting the fighters (Bullock, 2002). The Messenger of Allah (Muhammad) supported his spouses in their household chores, thereby demonstrating that there was no deprivation connected to household duties such as preparing food, sweeping, doing laundry, and so on (Leemhuis, 2010). 

Proposed Methodology

Research Philosophy

The purpose of the study is to ascertain the answers to the research questions using methodological approaches and analyzing the findings. To do so, the proper methodology must be used. There is often an over-distinction between different types of research methodology, even though, in modern research, the convergence of these methods is common (Edson, Henning, and Sankaran, 2016). Most research frameworks derive from three research methodologies: the positivist method, the interpretative method, and the pragmatic approach.

 Each study uses one of these research philosophies as a guideline for designing a research methodology with the most accurate and acceptable approach to their research venture. The interpretative approach is focused on the assessment of the differences between individuals and social actors. On the other hand, a positivist strategy is established based on data collection and the development of a hypothesis. A pragmatic approach uses elements of both positivist and interpretative approaches to reach a more conclusive result. This research uses a qualitative methodology; its research philosophy is the interpretative approach and an inductive approach will be used.

Research Approach

The research approach is a technique and process that provides descriptions of the methods involved in the data collection, data processing, and the understanding of the data obtained. For this purpose, there are two basic types of research approaches used by researchers. These approaches are known as the inductive research approach and the deductive research approach (Tuffour, 2017). The result of this research approach is the locus point in terms of determining the outcomes of the research. The inductive approach, which this research will follow, discusses a concept that has historically been identified by scholars and incorporates it into new studies. The general inductive method offers an easy-to-use and comprehensive collection of qualitative data review techniques that can yield accurate results (Harding, 2018). 

The methodology in this qualitative research is based on three phases. Firstly, all texts of the Quran and Sunnah that Mernissi discusses in her writings and interviews will be collected and classified into three sections: the Quran, the Sunnah, and the biography and life of the companions. Second, Mernissi’s methodological principles or rules for understanding and interpreting these texts will be derived from her arguments against Western feminism and orthodox interpretations. Finally, these rules will be applied to all texts collected in the first stage, to examine the consistencies and inconsistencies and answer the question of whether Mernissi maintained her criteria when dealing with gender-related texts. These rules will also be applied to other gender-related texts that are not mentioned in Mernissi's writings, to test the accuracy and validity of her arguments.

Research Method

The research method is the arrangement of the conditions for data collection; it is the framework of different research methods and techniques that a researcher chooses before carrying out research. The research method essentially defines the process of the study, which could be an additional aspect that may be employed on its own to determine the validity of the results (Diaz et al., 2019). It includes the data collection process, the measurement of the data collected, and the analysis performed on the data collected. For this research, a secondary research method will be used to enable the researcher to gather comprehensive data qualitatively.

Data Collection

Data collection is the method of collecting and calculating the data used to carry out a particular analysis, taking into consideration the variables under consideration. The data collection process explains the data that has been collected in this research (Creswell, 2017). In any analysis, there are two major data collection techniques: primary and secondary. Primary data is often labeled as direct data and is obtained by the researcher. On the other hand, information from authors and researchers is included as secondary data. The benefit of obtaining data from primary sources is that it offers a potential result. Secondary evidence, on the other hand, allows one to uncover research gaps in the literature, as prior research can be looked at in great depth (Merriam and Tisdell, 2015).

Technological advancements have made data access much easier than before, thereby increasing the popularity of the use of secondary data collection (Johnston, 2017). Primary data will be collected from Mernissi's books, articles, and interviews. Secondary sources will also be used, such as monolingual dictionaries of the Arabic language, the exegesis of the Qur’an or Tafsir, Hadith commentaries or Sharh, and books and articles on Mernissi.

Ethical Considerations

This research has covered all necessary ethical considerations required for the proper and timely conduction of this research. All the data gathered in this research must be kept confidential to ensure that the results are not biased. Furthermore, since the topic of the research involves religion, the researchers need to be careful not to insult any religious sentiments through their own beliefs, and an objective analysis must be presented. 

Limitations

Every study has certain limitations that need to be taken into account. In the current study, the limitation is that the researcher is restricted to previous research. On the other hand, the research methodology used is inductive and secondary data will be used for the analysis. The researcher should also plan to conduct a quantitative study in this area, as this could either present a completely different scenario or support this research.

References

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Mernissi, F. (1991). The veil and the male elite: A feminist interpretation of women's rights in Islam (p. 116). Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books.

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