By DAISY KHAN
The rights of Muslim women have been at the center of debates surrounding Islam in the West for more than a decade. Western media’s continual portrayals of Muslim women as oppressed and lacking agency, and their purported subservience to men, not only make Muslim women visible targets for an anti-Islam backlash, but also shape their perception of themselves as outsiders in their own country. Moreover, when they become subjects of the debate rather than participants in it, they experience powerlessness and disconnection from society.
Daesh capitalizes on this vulnerability by reinforcing these women’s feelings of being hated, isolated, and othered, using incidents of anti-Muslim bias or rhetoric that occur in these Western societies to reinforce their feelings of being under attack. Daesh offers these women a compelling alternative: escape discrimination and be part of a global sisterhood, feel protected, and find true belonging. They refer to potential recruits as “daring,†“brave,†and “courageous†and compare them to Maryam (Mary, mother of Jesus), Asiyah (the Pharaoh’s wife), Khadijah (the Prophet Muhammad’s first wife), Fatima (the Prophet’s daughter), and Aisha (the Prophet’s last wife), women whom Muslims hold in high esteem for their piety, acts of self-sacrifice, and devotion.
However, Daesh’s women can never legitimately follow in the footsteps of these women, for their actions and intentions go against the very principles that these women embodied, such as truthfulness, forbearance, and devotion to God. Here are their stories:
Maryam (Mary) is described in the Qur’an as “chosen above all women†and is regarded as one of the most righteous and pious women: “The angels said, ‘Mary, God has chosen you, purified you, and chosen you above all women in the world. Mary, be dedicated to your Lord; bow down and kneel with those who are kneeling in prayer†(3:42–43). As testament to her righteousness, a chapter (surah) of the Qur’an is named after her, making her one of only eight people to have a surah named after them. For her steadfastness and purity, God chose her to give birth to Jesus, “the spirit of God.†The Qur’an calls her the truthful one (5:75) who followed God’s commandments, fulfilled her covenant with God, and endured many hardships. That the story of Maryam appears in the Qur’an is deeply significant for interfaith relations, as it is through her that we find a key connection between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.
Asiyah, the Pharaoh’s wife, is honored in Islam for remaining steadfast against the Pharaoh, one of the most tyrannical rulers of all time, who tortured her for believing in Moses. She had deep faith in God and exhibited great bravery because she believed in God. The Qur’an describes her as such: “God draws an[other] example for those who have faith: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, ‘My Lord! Build me a home near You in paradise, and deliver me from Pharaoh and his conduct, and deliver me from the wrongdoing lot†(66:11). Before her death, she asked God to deliver her from the Pharaoh and his bad deeds and from evil people. Asiyah rejected her tyrannical husband who was a wrongdoer and raised the infant Moses to fulfill her mandate as Moses’s protector. In Asiyah we find a deep commonalty between the Jewish and Muslim traditions.
Since the women who have answered Daesh’s call have devoted their lives to violence, oppression, and injustice, in no way can they claim to follow in the footsteps of women like Maryam or Asiyah, and should learn the real lessons that the stories of these women have to offer. Misguided women would do well to learn the stories of Hagar and Bilquis (Queen of Sheba) as well, who devoted their lives to the way of peace, patience, and justice.
Hagar, mother of Ishmael, is a significant figure in Islam. Her son was the patriarch of Islam and she is considered one of the founders of Mecca. She had incredible strength and unwavering courage and faith in God that enabled her to remain in the desolate desert valley after they were left behind by Abraham. To quench her son’s thirst she rushed between two hills to find water when angel Gabriel appeared before her and told her of God’s plan. It was then that the ground opened up and God caused a spring to burst forth from the holy fountain known as Zamzam. The event is so historically significant, it is commemorated during the annual pilgrimage (hajj) when all Muslim pilgrims run between the hills and drink from the continuously flowing fountain of Zamzam. Thus, not only is Hagar recognized as an embodiment of strength for raising her child in a desolate desert without a male companion, but her sacrifice is honored and reenacted as an important religious ritual. Hagar bore Abraham his first son, Ishmael, a direct forefather of the Prophet Muhammad, while Sarah gave birth to the son Isaac, who was the forefather of Moses and Jesus. This shows that all three monotheistic faiths trace their heritage back to one single patriarch, Abraham.
Aisha, the last wife of the Prophet Muhammad, spent more than forty years propagating knowledge of Islam, and played an important role in Islamic history by transcribing and narrating 2,210 Hadith (sayings of the Prophet). A strong advocate for women’s education in Islam, she is considered to be one of the most knowledgeable Muslim women, and is held in high regard by many Muslims for her scholarly intelligence and expertise in understanding and memorizing the Qur’an. One day, when Aisha accidentally became separated from the Prophet’s caravan and was stranded in the desert, people made false accusations against her, causing deep distress to her and her family. After they were reunited, the Prophet consoled her, saying, “Aisha, I have heard that you are innocent, I expect that God will declare your innocence. I will bear this patiently with good grace.†Aisha waited patiently and trusted that God would reveal the truth. God sent a revelation proving her innocence in ten verses of Surah An-Noor: “Why then, did the believers, men and women, when you heard it (the slander), think good of their own people and say: ‘This (charge) is an obvious lie?’ Why did they not produce four witnesses? Since they (the slanderers) have not produced witnesses! Then with God they are the liars†(Qur’an 24:12–13). After the death of the Prophet, Aisha became involved in politics and public affairs, correcting distortions of the Prophet’s message when she heard them.
Daesh barely mentions Bilquis (Queen of Sheba) in its recruitment narrative, though in the Qur’an she is hailed as the archetype of political leadership for her transparency, reliance on public consultation (shura), and the priority she placed on the welfare of her people over all else. She is contrasted with Pharaoh, the egocentric leader who is presented as the archetype of tyranny—intoxicated with his own power and force. When the Queen received a letter from King Solomon requesting the submission of her and her people to God, unlike the rash and violent Pharaoh, she turned to her companions and advisers to seek their consensus on how to respond: “She said, ‘O eminent ones, advise me in my affair. I would not decide a matter until you witness [for] me†(Qur’an 27:32). By yielding power to her people, she was rendered even more powerful by her court, as they responded to her request: “They said, ‘We are men of strength and of great military might, but the command is yours, so see what you will command†(Qur’an 27:33). The Queen refused to make a rash decision to engage in physical confrontation. Rather, the Queen acknowledged the danger a war would pose to the well-being of her people, so she chose a path of nonconfrontation. As she observed: “Indeed kings—when they enter a city, they ruin it and render the honor of its people humbled. And thus do they do†(Qur’an 27:34).
CONCLUSION
In today’s world of great social unrest and division, it is unfortunate that so many young women are being manipulated into joining a destructive group like Daesh. They need to be reminded that tyranny, coercion, and flawed thinking are linked to aggression and violence aimed at forcing others to change. In this violent paradigm, a person is always in a state of war.
If Muslim women want to express their agency and not be seen as subservient, second-class citizens, they need look no further than the Qur’an, which explicitly states that gender equality is an integral part of Islam: “The men and women who have submitted to God, the believing men and women, the obedient men and women, the truthful men and women, the patient men and women, the humble men and women, the charitable men and women, the fasting men and women, the men and women who guard their private parts, the men and women who remember God often, for them, God prepared forgiveness and a great reward†(Qur’an 33:35).
The stories of Maryam, Asiyah, Hagar, and Bilquis, as told in the Qur’an, show that these women were all autonomous agents capable of receiving God’s guidance, and that, in the eyes of God, they are of absolute moral and spiritual equality to men. Indeed, Muslim women have been afforded respect and dignity within Islam.
It is encouraging to see so many Muslim women working to redress social grievances and enact social change. They are responsible agents who earn respect and dignity, who exercise their rights as legal, social, and spiritual beings; and who, as servants of God, exercise their abilities and talents in all areas of human activity. They do this by upholding the truth, rejecting tyrannical wrongdoers, exhibiting bravery, seeking consensus, and using diplomacy and peaceful means to promote change that will benefit all. These are the women who are walking in the footsteps of Islam’s earliest women—the ones who have joined Daesh have gone astray.
