Why We Need Gender Jihad

Last Friday, I was fortunate enough to attend the congregational prayers organized by the Inclusive Mosque Initiative (IMI). IMI has been instrumental in organizing inclusive prayers, people of all genders and sexualities, creeds and sects pray together as one. Last Friday’s prayer was especially meaningful since it was attended by Professor Amina Wadud Muhsin, the face of Gender Jihad herself. Since her book, ‘Quran and Woman’, Amina has been carrying forth the idea of Gender Jihad, reclaiming Islam from the patriarchy. The Muslim was in uproar in 2005 when Amina publically led a mixed congregation in prayers. This should tell us how entrenched patriarchy is.

When the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was trending, some people tried to push an alternative one called #AllLivesMatter. Of course all lives matter, no one can disagree with that. But that is really missing the point. #BlackLivesMatter trended because at the time, Afro Americans were being unduly targeted for abuse and even murder by the American police. Such is the case with Gender Jihad.

Gender Jihad is the struggle to restore the balance of power and dignity between the genders. It is necessary just now for the simple reason that in the world of Islam, the patriarchal elite have an overwhelming influence. This results in a Sharia which heavily leans towards males in terms of privileges. In some countries, it is considered a massive achievement to allow women the right to vote or even travel on their own! This is due to the fact that under normal circumstances, women just don’t have such privileges.

Is this Sharia from Allah or really from men themselves? To me, they come from the hands of men who have long tried to co-opt God into their agenda of dominance. Nowhere does the Quran prohibit women from travelling without male ‘guardians’, from having an education and from marrying whosoever they choose. I even believe that the so-called ‘leadership of the husband in an Islamic marriage’ idea was read into the Quran. This was done by simply ignoring the context of the verses in question (you may read my reasoning here).

As a cisgendered, heterosexual male, I have much privilege in the world of Islam. I face less discrimination than a female, a transgender or a homosexual Muslim in this context. So on the surface, it would seem inexpedient for me to disturb the status quo. Why should I empower the relatively unprivileged when it would cost me my own? The answer lies in the metaphysics of gender balance.

I see male and female harmony as principles intrinsic to the universe. When the male principle seeks to dominate the female and thus disrupt that harmony, then the universe would be imbalanced. We can see this in human societies that are dominated by patriarchy. Women are controlled, oppressed and even traded off. When women refuse to comply to these policies, for example forced marriages, they are harmed and even murdered. Such societies are deeply troubled and I do believe that unless oppression is removed, harmony will not be restored.

The Muslim world needs to embrace Gender Jihad simply because it is the right thing to do.