UNEDITED SECTION OF A CHAPTER IN PROGRESS ON GENDER AND HADITH
Fatima Mernissi,
a Moroccan sociologist, was a pioneer of Islamic feminism. Her most relevant
work for the purposes of this chapter is her book The Veil and the Muslim Elite in which Mernissi engages in a
critical re-reading and critical reassessment of the authenticity of two misogynist hadith
found in Al-Bukhari’s Sahih hadith
collection.[1] Mernissi’s broader thesis is that the egalitarian if not
the feminist message and the persona of
the Prophet of Islam has been manipulated and distorted by the Muslim male (scholarly ) elite.
Recognising the importance of hadith on the collective consciousness of Muslims
and their societies and especially the detrimental effect that they have had on
women’s rights, Mernissi adopts the methodology and the criteria of the
classical hadith scholars themselves to cast doubt on the reliability of the transmitters
of the following two hadith:
“Those who
entrust their affairs to a woman will never know prosperity.” (transmitted on
the authority of Abu Bakra )
“the Prophet
said that the dog, the ass, and woman interrupt prayer if they pass in front of
the believer, interposing themselves between him and the qibla [the direction
of Muslim prayer]”( transmitted on the authority of Abu Hurayra).
In relation
to the hadith transmitted by Abu Bakra, Mernissi, by consulting the classical biographies
of hadith transmitters, not only questions the circumstances under which Abu Bakra
remembered this statement but also argues that his character does not satisfy
the isnad-based criteria developed by classical hadith scholars in order for
the hadith to be considered authentic. As such Mernissi opines that according
to the criteria developed by classical hadith scholars themselves Abu Bakra
should be considered as an unreliable transmitted of hadith.[2]
In this respect she states: “if one follows the principles of Malik for fiqh,
Abu Bakra must be rejected as a source of Hadith by every good, well-informed
Malikite Muslim.”[3] Thus,
for Mernissi, the abovementioned hadith, despite being found in Al-Bukhari’s
Sahih collection, is not to be considered authentic and ought not be used as an
argument to prevent Muslim women from assuming the highest level of political
leadership.
In relation
to the second hadith Mernissi takes aim at one of the most prolific hadith transmitters
in Sunni Islam, Abu Hurayra. While Mernissi’s strategy in problematising the trustworthiness
of Abu Hurayra as a transmitter of hadith is multilayered including strong
elements of interpolation (Ghani,2011), we only focus on those aspects that are
aligned with classical hadith authenticity criticism. In this respect Mernissi
makes note that Al-Bukhari ignored the fact that ‘Aisha, the prophet’s youngest
wife, refuted this hadith on the basis that it was only a partial recollection
of what the prophet had actually stated.[4]
For Mernissi, this is indicative of Al-Bukhari’s own androcentric bias and
methodology. As in the case of Abu Bakra, Mernissi ‘s examination of classical biographical
works on Abu Hurayra leads her to
conclude that he had a number of reasons
to exhibit a misogynistic attitude including his frequent quarrels with ‘Aisha.[5]
In both
cases, Mernissi uses the methodologies and tools of classical hadith criticism
to defend her broader thesis of Islam as a gender egalitarian religion and a Prophet
as an early proponent of Islamic feminism. More
specifically, she in a way de-canonises what is widely considered the most
authentic collection of hadith among traditionalist Sunnis , that of Al-Bukhari’s
Sahih, in order to open doors for
contemporary Muslims as a whole ( and not just the fuqaha) to develop a more self-reflective and critical
attitude toward the “authentic hadith”. In her words:
What conclusion must one draw from this? That even the
authentic Hadith must be vigilantly examined with a magnifying glass? That is
our right, Malik Ibn Anas tells us. Al-Bukhari, like all the fuqaha, began his
work of collecting by asking for Allah’s help and acknowledging that only He is
infallible.[6]
Importantly,
Mernissi’s approach, like that of other scholars discussed in this chapter, also implies that, at least at times, [7]the
classical hadith sciences can be
employed to ‘subvert from the inside’ the
patriarchal residue that exists in the Islamic (interpretative) tradition in
general and the hadith collections in particular.
[1]
Mernissi also engages in a very contextualist reading of the Qur’anic verses on
the hijab and the hadith which document the occasions of the verses in question
but since the focus of this chapter is
entirely on the hadith this aspect of Mernissi’ book will not be discussed.
[2] Veil,49-61.
[3]
Veil,p.53.
[4] A
specific Jewish tribe who had this vision of women.
[5]
Veil,70-81.
[6]
Veil,76.
[7] A
number of scholars have criticised Mernissi’s
methodology on the grounds that there
are other instances of misogynist hadith that cannot be ‘rescued’ on the basis of
following the classical hadith criticism sciences. ( Rhouni, 2010.)
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