The Light February 2020 02

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February 2020 The Light 2 The Call of the Messiah by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi (Editor’s note: Any quotations from the Quran are translated from the author’s explanations and are not literal translations of the verse quoted. This extract is from the book Nuzul-ul- Masih, taken from the Lahore Ahmadiyya publication ‘Essence of Islam’, p. 127 - 129, where the Promised Messiah puts forward arguments and signs about his claim.) Of all of the gifts of God, the most precious is the gift of His sure and certain word revealed to a human. Through these words, a person reaches the highest stage of advancement in the knowledge of God. It is as if he sees God, and his belief in His existence is the belief of an eye-witness. Divine awe and grandeur take full possession of his heart and the darkness of doubt vanishes away as it were the gloom before the light of the sun. He then walks upon the earth like an angel, and is unique in his righteousness, unique in his hatred for sin, unique in his love for the One God, unique in his faithfulness to Him, unique in his fear of God, unique in his trust in Him, and unique in his fidelity to this bond of friendship. Moreover, as Allah’s promise is that Divine revelation shall always be granted to faithful hearts, reason also requires its actual continuance in the world for the good of mankind. There is no remedy for sin and transgression except the certain revelation of Divine Beauty and Glory. Experience shows that there are only two forces which can keep one away from transgression or disobedience, i.e., true love for, or true fear of the Being whose commandments can be transgressed or disobeyed. True love for a kind and gracious friend is also attended with the fear lest the tie of friendship should at any time be broken. Therefore, the person whose heart is inspired with true love for God or true fear of Him, and the person who knows and loves such a person and is affected by his superior influence, are both released from the bondage of sin. But the person who does not belong to either of these classes cannot be free from the poison of sin. There are some hypocrites who pretend that they are sinless and pure in hearts, but they only try to deceive people and God. Release from sin is impossible, unless a death is brought on the carnal desires of the heart by the awe inspiring fear of God through the piercing rays of certainty, unless true love and true fear dominate the heart, and it is consecrated with the glory and beauty of God. Yet the heart can never realize these conditions as long as there reigns no certainty in it regarding the existence of God and His two attributes of Glory and Beauty. (Return to contents) Muslim Women as Religious Scholars By Zainab Alwani, Ph.D. 1 A Historical Survey (Note: Dr. Zainab Alwani is the Founding Director of the Islamic Studies program at Howard University School of Divinity (HUSD). She is the Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and the chair of the Religious Studies Master of Arts program at HUSD. She is an Islamic scholar, researcher and community activist. Dr. Alwani is also the first female jurist to serve on the board of the Fiqh Council of North America and currently serves as the Council’s Vice-Chair.) Abstract: This paper is concerned with the role and general impact of women’s scholarship in the arena of religious sciences. I provide a concise overview of the foundational sources of Islamic knowledge followed by an overview of women’s engagement therein. I then examine 1 In the preparation of this essay for publication I am grateful to my research assistant Celene Ayat Lizzio. I Shall Love All Mankind.
February 2020 The Light 3 ʿĀ ʾisha’s commentaries which seek to correct particular narrations by the Prophet’s companions, and I argue that ʿĀ ʾisha’s metho-dological contribution is a potential model for how to engage ḥ adīth holistically in the light of the Qurʾānic message and objectives. I conclude by stressing that women’s concerted participation within the realm of religious scholarship is essential for enhancing religious scholarship in general and for advancing the role and status of women in spheres where Islamic knowledge is applied. Introduction Since the inception of the Islamic community in the earliest decades of the seventh century, women have been taking a prominent role in the cultivation and preservation and cultivation of the main sources of Islamic knowledge, i.e. the Qurʾān, and sunna. This legacy of women’s scholarly activism was later suppressed and weakened, but never entirely extinguished. Through an analysis of women’s contributions to the realm of religious sciences, this paper argues for the need for increased women’s engagement with the foundational sources of Islamic scholarship. I argue that just as women’s voices and intimate engagement with the religious sciences were vibrant and influential in the nascent Muslim community, women scholars of the present should follow the footsteps of their foremothers. Women’s concerted participation within the realm of religious scholarship is essential for enhancing religious scholarship in general and for advancing the role and status of women in spheres where Islamic knowledge is applied. My essay begins a concise overview of the foundational sources of Islamic knowledge, followed by an overview of women’s engagement therein. Here, I call attention to the early vigour and subsequent decline of women’s contributions to the religious sciences and I suggest that a strong methodology based on the Qurʾān and sunna is one tool in reasserting women’s scholarship and reshaping religious discourse. I then devote special attention to ʿĀ ʾisha’s efforts to correct misogynistic attitudes that were propagated by some of her contemporaries on women’s roles in the society. 2 I argue that ʿĀ ʾisha’s methodological contribution is a model for how to engage ḥ adīth holistically in the light of the Qurʾānic message and objectives. I stress the contemporary role and import of women’s engagement in the tradition of interpretation and in the development of religious fields of knowledge. The importance of women’s engagement with the foundational sources Religious scholarship in Islam is based on several primary sources including the Qurʾān and the collected sunna of the Prophet Muhammad which clarifies and expands upon Qurʾānic teachings. 3 Muslims regard the Qurʾān as the ultimate reference for human affairs and believe it to be safeguard by God from distortion. 4 The Qurʾān regards the Prophet as a role model for humanity (e.g. Qurʾān 33:21), and hence, from the perspective of Islamic jurisprudence, the authentic prophetic sunna explains, clarifies, and demonstrates how to implement the teachings of the Qurʾān. The sunna has a range of different hermeneutic functions vis-a -vis the Qurʾān. For instance, jurists regularly discuss and deliberate how a particular ḥ adīth, a reported saying or action attributed to the Prophet, relates to the text of the Qurʾān. First, 2 ʿĀʾisha is the daughter of the first Caliph Abū Bakr ʿAbdullāh bin Abī Quhạ̄fah (c. 573 – 634 CE). She was characterized by a sharp intelligence and was the source of more than twelve hundred hạdīth reports. For an account of her life and role in the tradition see Dennis Spellberg, Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of A’isha Bint Abi Bakr (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994). 3 Religious scholarship in Islam is based on several primary sources including the Qurʾān and the collected I Shall Love All Mankind. sunna of the Prophet Muhammad which clarifies and expands upon Qurʾānic teachings. 4 See for instance Q. 15:9. While I am addressing here on the role of the Qurʾān in deriving legal theory and principles, the Qurʾān describes itself with at least thirty-four attributes including hudā (guidance) and dhikr (remembrance); the role that the Qurʾān plays in Muslim life and devotion is multi-fold; for a thorough and skilful treatment of this topic see Ingrid Mattson, The Story of the Qur'an: Its History and Place in Muslim Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2008.
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The Light February 2020 02

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