Men in Charge? Rethinking Authority in Muslim Legal Tradition

Abstract

At a time when men’s assumption of leadership roles through all-male eventsand publications is a popular phenomenon, Men in Charge?, a byproduct ofa project by the women-led organization Musawah, could not have been publishedat a more opportune moment. Comprising a foreword by Zainah Anwar,Musawah’s director, an introduction by the editors, and ten chapters from academicsand activists of varied backgrounds, the book historicizes and problematizesthe Islamic idea of qiwāmah (authority) and wilāyah (guardianship),among other legal patriarchal precepts. It successfully argues that the Islamiclegal tradition with regards to gender roles rests on the false notion of malesuperiority.Men in Charge? carries immeasurable value for scholars and studentsof Islam, religion, women’s and gender studies, activists working toward gender-egalitarianism, and (Muslim) feminists seeking empowerment within areligious framework. It also speaks to reform leaders and lawmakers in Muslimstates, who might better understand the fundamental assumptions uponwhich family laws operate and their disconnect from the reality that womenand families face. The book’s major success lies in covering several importantlayers of the myth of male authority, from the theoretical gaps in the notionsof qiwāmah, wilāyah, and istikhlāf to a practical examination of the impact ofthese legal principles and proposals for new and creative approaches for feministsto apply in their vision of a gender-egalitarian Islam.Men in Charge? can be divided into two sections: (1) a theoretical discussionof the problems raised through fiqh rulings on gender and proposesnew ways through which Muslim feminists can approach those problems and(2) an analysis of the established ideals’ practical impacts. Ziba Mir-Hosseini’sdiscussion in the first chapter, “Muslim Legal Tradition and the Challengeof Gender Equality,” effectively contextualizes the book’s broaderdiscussion: What Muslim scholars did in the early twentieth century to challengethe legal tradition’s normative thought in an effort to move towardmore democratic and egalitarian family systems.According to the ideas of the scholars from the past and those from themore modern period, there appears to be an inconsistency between the twogroups’ understanding of “woman.” This suggests that the idea of woman is ...