Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel peace prize winner 2003, is among prominent moderate Muslim I admire. Not only has she got the gut to speak up her mind what she thinks right against the conservatives and/or radicals of her fellow Muslims, be they Iranian clerics or others; but she also talks straight and frank against some conservatives and/or radicals from the other faiths and cultures without worrying of being dubbed as “mellow” moderate. Something not every moderate Muslims dare say and do.
She’s also the vivid and candid voice of Islam to the world, giving proper explanation on the West misconception; the difference between the Quranic teaching and the ground realities done by some radicals or Muslim dictators which is more often than not nothing to do with religious teaching they subscribe to; but as usual, religion is used to cover up and justify their wrong-doings.
I wrote a piece in Jawa Pos entitled Nobel Perdamaian Shirin Ebadi– an article which I wrote specially for her– in which I explained how people from the other parts of the world fall into the trap of prejudice and generalisation when talking about Islam; and fail miserably to understand that in most cases what influence a person’s life and mindset is not what religion he/she belongs; rather the environment, (local) culture, ethnicity and status of his/her country. Points Shirin Ebadi repeatedly point out in many occasions.
This week, she visits India for a conference on human trafficking. An Indian english newspaper, The Times of India, interviewed her on Islami-Muslim related issues. Here’s the excerpt:
You’re a Muslim arguing for dynamic interpretation of Islamic laws to make women equal before law. What’s your message to those who believe Islam condemns women to an inferior status?
I say, look carefully in the Koran so that the oppressors cannot mislead you with selective quotes. Don’t let people masquerading as clerics claim monopoly on understanding Islam. Allah created us as equal, and when we struggle for equality, we’re doing what Allah wanted us to do.
Is it possible to follow every tenet of Islam in today’s world?
Many Islamic laws, like stoning to death, are not even there in Koran. But some laws need to be discussed. For example, Koran says during Ramadan a Muslim must fast from sunrise to sunset. It’s easy to do so in Iran or Saudi Arabia where the days and nights are almost equal. But if a Muslim goes to the North Pole, can he fast for six months, which is the duration of the day? So a third way is needed — and offered by Islam. The secondary laws say, implement the law in its spirit. In this case, divide the day(24 hours) into three equal parts, and use one part for fasting. By another law a rape victim has to produce four witnesses. This was to ensure no one will bring false testimonials. Today, the medical profession is such that it needs a single drop of blood to establish paternity. Surely it can serve in place of four witnesses!
Why is Islam among the most powerful religions, also the most dreaded?
Don’t fear Islam, fear the dictators who hide behind the flag. In the name of Shariat people justify rape, forced marriage, unlawful talaq. But Islam has different interpretations in different countries. In Saudi Arabia, a woman can’t even drive, let alone enter a political formation, while in Bangladesh and Pakistan women have become prime ministers. Again, stoning to death is permitted in Iran and Saudi Arabia but banned in Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, Algeria. So I say, which Islam? Which interpretation? This applies to other religions and political ideologies too. China and the Soviet Union were both communist but was their interpretation identical? And Gandhi had to die because of wrong interpretation of Hinduism. I repeat, Islam is not responsible for human rights violation in undemocratic states, it’s the men. And men here doesn’t mean the gender but the patriarchal mindset. Many men are defenders of women’s rights, and many women uphold this thinking despite being victim
“But if a Muslim goes to the North Pole, can he fast for six months, which is the duration of the day?”
hehe..i live above the arctic circle and it’s just recent hat the mosque has consensus in this matter. before each Muslim did it their own way. now when the sun doesn’t shine anymore, or the sun shine 24 hours we use saudi arabia schedule.
a phd student in my university studied this and initiated this. but he is not an astronomist at all. in our way to reach this consensus, we came to Islamic scholars and groups. but we did not find the way out. instead, we were even told to move from the place.
if only this northern most mosque did not reach the present consensus, wouldn’t people think islam is not universal? as it couldn’t cover the need of the northern people.
it is true that a third way is sometimes needed. but cant u believe that some fanatic are just sooo hesitate to use this way and push so hard to do what quran and hadist literaly say?
sometimes i don’t care, sometimes it breaks my heart.
#Mulia, may be you need to keep in mind that most Muslim in Europe (students or expats) are of india, pakistan, bangladesh origins which belong to Madzhab (jurisprudence school of thought) Hanafi; or Arab origin of Madzhab maliki and Hanbali. Madzhab Hanafi followers mostly are more strict in taking innovative opinion than say, Shafi’is where most Indonesian belong to which much more flexible and open to conditional change. The fatwa of Imam Shafi’i in Egypt, for example, was a lot different (easier) than that of Shafi’i's during his previous stay in Baghdad.
In Madzhab Shafi’i prayer/fasting schedule we can follow the time of neigbor country where appropriate. Religion is easy so says one of an authentic Hadith. And we should not burden ourselves beyond our capacity. In the context of fasting, for example, take the normal schedule of neighbor nation/country/place where normal time applied.
So, you neither need to care nor heartbroken. You just need to learn (this religious topic) more.