The document discusses the principles of gender justice in Islam and argues that while the Quran supports gender justice, patriarchal societies have diminished these rights. It examines the concepts of authority, justice, and sharia in Islamic teachings and questions how religious truths can adapt to new social contexts. The author believes a careful analysis of Islam's foundational sources and distinguishing the historical from the ideal can support greater gender equality today.

1. Islam, Women, and
Gender Justice

2. Argument
 The Quran and basic principles of Islam
support gender justice
 But the patriarchal societies have diminished
gender justice
 So, have to look carefully at teachings of Islam
and authorities to discern authentic vs.
inauthentic teachings

3. Justice
 Justice is a central concept in Islam
 includes retaliation
 But higher ideal is benevolence and forgiveness
 includes concern for weaker members of society
 Yet the idea of justice can change with new
social situations
 How? What does this say about religious truth?

4. Authority
 Quran
 divine and immutable
 Normative teachings more important than
contextual teachings
 Doesn’t anticipate all circumstances; as social
setting changes, people confront new dilemmas
 NOTE: fundamentalists do not agree with the
author

5. Authority, cont.
 Ahadith
 Some spurious
 Divine or human?
 Analogy (qiyas)
 Human reasoning process
 Scholarly consensus (ijma)
 Whose consensus counts?
 Ijtihad: solving problems without guidance of
Quran and ahadith

6. Shari’ah
 Based on:
1. Quran (divinely inspired)
2. Ahadith or sunna (divine or human? Forgeries?)
3. Analogy (qiyas)
4. Consensus (ijma)
 3 and 4 (and perhaps 2) are human; therefore they
can change
 However, the Ulama present it as divine and
immutable (122)
 So, change is difficult

7. Quranic teachings on women
 Full support for sexual equality (124) in several verses
 Distinguish between “is” (historical setting) and “ought”
(ideal, eternal principle)
 orthodox don’t accept this distinction, treat all the same (not
historical)
 Rights of wife equal to her husband’s
 can demand a divorce
 Women can inherit property (half of what the son inherits)
 Some Quranic teachings are concessions to context
 Example: polygamy
 limitation on how performed (widows and orphans only, to protect them,
only 4, must treat justly)
 tension: Quran suggests it is difficult to fulfill the command to treat them
all justly

8. Questions
 What rights should women have, in Engineer’s reading
of Islam?
 Why does Islam suppress women’s rights, according to
his reading?
 How can one discern between the “is” and the “ought”
in sacred teachings?
 What are the dangers in emphasizing the historical
context of sacred teachings?

9. Questions, cont.
 Why, as he claims, do those orthodox Muslims most
resist change in teachings on women, when they accept
change in other teachings (like money, property) (p.
123)?
 How significant is it that Islam improved women’s
situation in the 7th and 8th centuries? Is that still
meaningful today?
 Is it proper to distinguish spirit and letter in Quranic
interpretation?

10. Questions, cont.
 Why, as he claims, do those orthodox Muslims most
resist change in teachings on women, when they accept
change in other teachings (like money, property) (p.
123)?
 How significant is it that Islam improved women’s
situation in the 7th and 8th centuries? Is that still
meaningful today?
 Is it proper to distinguish spirit and letter in Quranic
interpretation?