Mernissi
- Date Submitted: 01/28/2010 06:28 AM
- Flesch-Kincaid Score: 56.8
- Words: 1542
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Mernissi makes the claim that "Any man who believes that a Muslim
woman who fights for her dignity and right to citizenship excludes
herself necessarily from the umma...is a man who misunderstands
his own religious heritage, his own cultural identity" (Mernissi
viii). She goes about supporting this claim by delving into the
very detailed documentation of Islam history. She attributes
misogyny in the past and present Muslim culture to the male
elite. She gives many examples of how Muhammad and Islam have
only supported equality of the sexes and also how the male elite
used false hadiths and very narrow interpretations of the Koran
and true hadiths for their purpose.
She begins by describing how the male elite started running things
right from the onset of Muhammad's death. When a successor to
Muhammad was picked, it did not involve the people of the
community at all or any women. It was done by a small group of
followers which were very close to the prophet, a sort of elite
group. This sort of leadership in Islam continued in the same
manner as only the elite were involved. This helped preserve what
they thought was essential and according to the interests of the
participants the essentials varied.
The fabrication of false hadiths by the male elite was probably
the first and most popular way for them to protect their
interests. The people governing knew how important it was to
"seek legitimacy in and through the sacred text" (Mernissi 43).
Mernissi talks about al-Bukhari, who methodically and
systematically collected and verified true Hadiths. He was exiled
from his native town because he refused to bring the knowledge of
the Hadith to the governor of the town and have it corrupted. He
knew that the invitation from the governor was made only for...
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