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

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).

Criticisms of Islamic feminists, including Mernissi’s writings, are critiques of their interpretation of specific Quranic verses and Hadiths. These critiques are 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).

Utilizing the Methodology of Gender Equality, Mernissi contends that Islam inherently provides a framework for equitable rights between women and men. Her critique of conservative Muslim institutions and their male architects might lead some to label her beliefs as liberal or anti-Islamic. Nevertheless, Mernissi consistently emphasizes that the emancipation of Muslim women need not be intricate, advocating that unique activism is unnecessary. She even proposes the involvement of men, asserting that conventional Islam fundamentally upholds principles of fairness and equality (Mernissi, 1987: 19). Within the Methodology of Gender Equality, she scrutinizes the legitimacy of certain scriptural interpretations pertaining to Quranic principles, which, according to her, originally endorsed complete epistemological parity 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 formation cycle 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. As the Qur'an teaches us, God, the Almighty, offers equal benefits to those who do good actions and punishments to those who carry out bad deeds. No single verse 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 believe 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 study aims 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, interpretative, and pragmatic approaches.

 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 focuses on assessing the differences between individuals and social actors. On the other hand, a positivist strategy is established based on data collection and hypothesis development. 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 describes the methods involved in collecting, processing, and understanding the data obtained. For this purpose, two basic types of research approaches are 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 determining the research outcomes. The inductive approach, which this research will follow, discusses a concept historically 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 a researcher chooses before conducting research. The research method essentially defines the study process, 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. A secondary research method will enable the researcher to gather qualitatively comprehensive data for this research.

Data Collection

Data collection is the method of collecting and calculating the data used to conduct a particular analysis, considering the variables under consideration. The data collection process explains the data that has been collected in this research (Creswell, 2017). In any analysis, two major data collection techniques are primary and secondary. Primary data is often labelled 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. On the other hand, secondary evidence 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 from Mernissi's books, articles, and interviews will be collected. 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 conduct 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 research topic 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 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

Ahmed-Ghosh, H. (2008) ‘Dilemmas of Islamic and Secular Feminists and Feminisms’, Journal of International Women’s Studies.

Ali, K. (2015). Sexual ethics and Islam: feminist reflections on Qur'an, hadith and jurisprudence. Oneworld Publications.

Barlas, A. (2019). Believing women in Islam: Unreading patriarchal interpretations of the Qur'an. University of Texas Press

Brill, E. J. (2002) The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Koninklijke Brill.

Bullock, K. (2002). Rethinking Muslim women and the veil: Challenging historical and modern stereotypes. iiit.

Creswell, J. W., and Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.

Diaz-Kope, L. M., Miller-Stevens, K., and Henley, T. J. (2019). Examining dissertation research: The relationship between gender, methodological approach, and research design. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 25(1), 93-114.

Edson, M. C., Henning, P. B., and Sankaran, S. (Eds.). (2016). A guide to systems research: Philosophy, processes and practice (Vol. 10). Springer.

Harding, J. (2018). Qualitative data analysis: From start to finish. SAGE Publications Limited.

Ibnouf, F. O. (2015). The Gender Equality and Women's Human Rights in Islamic Texts (Quran and Hadith).

Johnston, M. P. (2017). Secondary data analysis: A method by which the time has come. Qualitative and quantitative methods in libraries, 3(3), 619-626.

Malik, D. S. (2014) ‘Towards a Feminist Interpretation of Islam: Faith and Gender in the Work of Fatima Mernissi.’ IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science. doi: 10.9790/0837-19342528.

Merriam, S. B., and Tisdell, E. J. (2015). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John Wiley and Sons.

Mernissi, F. (1987). Beyond the veil: Male-female dynamics in modern Muslim society (Vol. 423). Indiana University Press.

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

Mernissi, F. (1991). Can we women head a Muslim state?

Mernissi, F. (1993). Women and Islam: An Historical Theological Enquiry. Tran. by Mary Jo Lakeland. New Delhi: Kali for women.

Mustaqim, A. (2017, November). DE-RADICALIZATION IN QURANIC EXEGESIS (RE-INTERPRETATION OF" VIOLENCE VERSES" TOWARD PEACEFUL ISLAM). In International Conference on Qur'an and Hadith Studies (ICQHS 2017). Atlantis Press

MOHAMMADI, P.A., MOHAMMADI, P.A. and SAEIDI, H., 2015. REFLECTING ON THE ANALOGICAL APPROACH IN THE INTERPRETATION OF SOME VERSES OF THE HOLY QURAN.

Riaz, S., and Abbas, M. Z. (2013). Diversity of interpretations regarding Qawwam in Islamic thought with special reference to Surah An-Nisa. Pakistan Journal of Islamic Research, 7.

Tuffour, I. (2017). A critical overview of interpretative phenomenological analysis: a contemporary qualitative research approach. Journal of Healthcare Communications, 2(4), 52.