Saudi Author Zaynab Hifni Talks about Women, Sex, and Taboos in Saudi Society. For me, the most interesting bit of the discussion is the following exchange about hadith - the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and the the major source for Islamic law and theology after the Qur'an:
Zaynab Hifni: "Let me go back to our religious heritage, or rather, our religious law. 'Aisha would sit with the men, and the Prophet Muhammad would say: You can learn half of the religion from her."
Interviewer: "That hadith is unreliable."
Zaynab Hifni: "An unreliable hadith?! I believe in that hadith, because it appeared in the collection of Al-Bukhari or of Al-Muslim, I think."
Interviewer: "If it had, it would not be considered unreliable."
Zaynab Hifni: "I think it appeared in one of the two."
Interviewer: "OK, but this is an unreliable hadith that did not appear in either source."
Zaynab Hifni: "Let me tell you something. OUR PROBLEM IS THAT EVERYTHING IN FAVOR OF WOMEN WE CONSIDER AN UNRELIABLE HADITH, WHERE AS ANY HADITH THAT FAVORS MEN - LIKE THE ONE THAT SAYS, "WOMEN ARE LACKING BRAINS AND FAITH" - IS CONSIDERED A 100 PERCENT RELIABLE HADITH. WHY? BECAUSE IT HARMS WOMEN. THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE." (emphasis added by me)
For far too long men have had a monopoly over the interpretation of religious texts. Over the years this has led to a patriarchal religious hierarchy in almost all faiths which propogates a misogynistic perversion of the original message of the religion. Thankfully, many women are now
fighting for equal access to religious institutions and like the woman in this video an equal say in interpreting religious texts. But a great deal of work is required to unravel centuries of institutionalised sexism.
(btw - I wouldn't normally post something from Memri TV for reasons I have explained before - see my comment
here - but I'm making an exception for this clip!)
6 Comments
deathcowInteresting, enlightening. She is well spoken I am sure there are some Saudi government officials, religious officials and aged men who think she is BAD for business!
gluoniumthe problem lies less with interpretation of the texts than it does with the texts themselves. it's not the ambiguous and open to interpretation parts of religious texts that are used as justification for sexism/misogyny, but rather the parts that say things like "Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.". Not much room for subjective interpretation there I'm afraid. what were they supposed to "save them" for? so they could be taken out shopping and to a fancy restaurant and maybe a movie later?
gwaangluonium
NOWHERE in the Qur'an or hadith does it say: "Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man."!!!
gluoniumuhh yeah I know. it's from the bible. the point is that there are nearly equally disgusting directives in the Qur'an and many other religious texts, it seems a common thread to all three of the the monotheistic religions.
jonny*dead
siftbotThis video has been declared non-functional; embed code must be fixed within 2 days or it will be sent to the dead pool - declared dead by jonny.
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