Imam al-Jurjani mentions that fitnah is “that which clarifies the state of a person, be that good or evil.” [1] It is also defined as “Strife breaking out among various peoples.” [2] In both of these meanings the controversy surrounding the “historic” female-led Friday [Jumu’ah] prayer is a fitnah for many Muslims in this country. This is undeniable when we see the deep divisions, bitterness, and outright enmity it is creating in the ranks of the believers. This is so when we see some people’s very faith shaken. This is so when we see spiteful accusations hurled by some Muslims at others. This is so when we see non-Muslims possessed of ill-intent seeking to exploit this controversy to create confusion among the general public and the Muslims as to what Islam is, and who are its authoritative voices.

As I consider this controversy a fitnah, the first thing I wish to say about this matter is that we should all stop for a moment and take time to ask God to protect us. We should ask God that He protects the fledgling Muslim community of this land. We should ask that He bless us to have wisdom equal to the challenges He has placed before us. We should ask Him that He grants us all the strength to continue working for Islam in our various capacities. We should ask that He helps us resist the many and increasingly sophisticated efforts to divide us.

After saying that, I wish to clarify my position on this matter. What I write below is based on the Sunni legal and linguistic tradition, as it has been historically understood. This is the tradition of the Islamic orthodoxy, which remains until today the only religious orthodoxy that has not been marginalized to the fringes of the faith community it represents. My comments will be structured around specific evidences mentioned by Nevin Reda, in an article entitled, “What Would the Prophet Do? The Islamic Basis for Female-Led Prayer.” [3]

Of the evidences ushered by Reda in her argument, only one is substantive. Another is ancillary. The rest are considerations that would affect how rulings relating to gender issues might be implemented. However, they have no real weight in establishing a particular ruling in the divine law.

The Tradition of Umm Waraqa

As for her lone substantive evidence, it is the following: The Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon, commanded Umm Waraqah, a woman who had collected the Qur’an, to lead the people of her area in prayer. She had her own mu’adhdhin [person who performs the call to prayers]. [4]

This narration, found in the compilations of Abu Dawud,[5] ad-Daraqutni, [6] al-Bayhaqi, [7] al-Hakim, [8] the Tabaqat of Ibn Sa’d, [9] and other sources, is questioned by some scholars of prophetic tradition [hadith] because of two narrators in its chain of transmission. [10] The first is al-Walid b. ‘Abdullah b. Jumay’. [11] Imam adh-Dhahabi mentions in al-Mizan that although Ibn Ma’in, Imam Ahmad, and Abu Hatim considered him an acceptable narrator, others refused to accept his transmissions, among them Ibn Hibban. Imam al-Hakim also questioned his probity. [12] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani mentions that al’Aqili said there was inconsistency in his transmissions. [13]

Although a case can be made for accepting the transmissions of al-Walid, based on those who do affirm his probity, the state of another narrator in the chain of this tradition, ‘Abd ar-Rahman b. Khallad, is unknown [Majhul al-Hal] . [14] Al-Walid also relates this tradition from his grandmother. Imam ad-Daraqutni mentions that her state is also unknown. [15] In the opinion of the overwhelming majority of scholars, the existence of a narrator whose state is unknown would make the transmission conveyed by that chain, weak. [16] This combination of two potentially weak narrators makes it questionable to use the tradition of Umm Waraqa as the basis for establishing any rulings in the Divine law. While the questionable nature of this tradition does not undermine the widespread acceptance it has received from the earlier scholars, it does make it difficult to use it as the primary evidence for a major precept of the religion, which is the case in this discussion.

Were we to assume that the tradition is sound, it would still be difficult to use it as the basis for establishing the permissibility of a woman leading a public, mixed-gender congregational prayer, for reasons we shall now mention, if God so wills. First of all, the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, advised Umm Waraqa to stay in her house – Qarri fi Baytiki. This command is of import, as it creates two possible scenarios for the prayer she led. Either she remained in her house to lead the congregation, or she left her house to lead it in a mosque at an outside location. If she left her house to lead the prayer, she would have been acting contrary to the order of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him. There is no transmitted evidence that the prayer took place outside of her home. Hence, we can conclude that her mosque was in her house.

Her establishing the prayer in a mosque located in her home would be consistent with numerous narrations where the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, permitted various companions to establish mosques in their homes. [17] Imam al-Bukhari mentions that al-Bara’ b. ‘Azib led congregational prayers in the mosque in his house –Salla al-Bara’ Ibn ‘Azib fi masjidihi fi darihi jama’atan. [18] Imam al-Bukhari also mentions a tradition where the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, went to the house of a blind companion, ‘Itban b. Malik, to establish a mosque there. [19] Ibn Majah produces several narrations of this event. [20] In fact, the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, ordered the generality of believers to establish mosques in their homes. ‘Aisha relates, “The Messenger of God ordered that mosques be established in the homes [Dur plural of Dar], and that they be cleaned and perfumed.” [21]

Based on these and other relevant narrations, we can safely conclude that Umm Waraqa had a mosque in her house, and that the prayer she led was not in a public place outside of her home. A more controversial point is who was being led in the prayer? Based on narrations describing Umm Waraqa’s prayer there are three possibilities: her prayer caller [mu’adhdhin] and two servants; the women from the neighborhood surrounding her home; the women of her house. As for the first possibility, the wording of the tradition along with the narrations we quoted above, would lead one to believe that the residents of her house were being led in the prayer. All of those narrations use Dar to refer to house. This would support the interpretation of Dar as “house” as opposed to “area.” This interpretation is also consistent with the literal meaning of the term Dar. Al-Fayruzabadi, Ibn Mandhur, and Raghib al-Isfahani all define Dar as a walled structure encompassing a building and a courtyard. [22] An interpretative principle relates that “the origin in expressions is their literal meaning, there is no resorting to derived meanings without a decisive proof.” [23] Hence, the term Ahla Dariha would be best translated “the people of her house.”

Based on what has been narrated that would apparently include a male and female servant, along with the old man who was appointed by the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, to serve as her prayer caller. [24] Reda rejects this interpretation, arguing that three people would not need a prayer caller. [25] This is not the case. Those scholars, who consider the prayer call [Adhan] a right associated with the obligatory prayer, or a right associated with the congregation, hold it to be a highly desirable in deference to the prophetic practice [Sunna] to issue the call for any congregation assembled to undertake the five obligatory prayers. [26] The size of the congregation in this regard is irrelevant. According to a tradition mentioned by al-Bukhari and others, even a person who is praying alone in an isolated area should make the call to prayer. [27] Hence, Reda’s conclusion is not sound.

On the basis of this interpretation, that the prayer was confined to the inhabitants of her house, it is related that Imams al-Muzani, at-Tabari, Abu Thawr, and Dawud Adh-Dhahiri allowed for females to lead men in prayer. [28] Some modern scholars use this interpretation to allow for females to lead men in prayer in the confine of their homes, if the males lack the qualifications to lead the prayer. [29] The relevant point here is that the prayer was a private matter, conducted in the confines of Umm Waraqa’s home, limited to the inhabitants of her house.

Were one to reject this first line of reasoning, a second possibility is that the people being led in prayer came from the area surrounding Umm Waraqa’s home. This is the interpretation preferred by Reda. It has a basis in narrations from the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him. In the tradition of ‘Itban b. Malik, it is related that those referred to as Ahli’d-Dar used to gather there –fathaba fi’l-bayt Rijalun min ahli’d-Dar. Ibn Hajar mentions in his commentary on this tradition that Ahli’d-Dar refers to the people of the neighborhood [al-Mahallah]. [30]
Based on this understanding, it is not unreasonable to interpret Ahla Dariha, in the tradition of Umm Waraqa, as the people of her “area,” as Reda does. However, we are not left to guess as to who those people are. Imam ad-Daraqutni’s narration of this tradition mentions that Umm Waraqa was ordered to lead her women in prayer [Nisa’aha]. [31] Hence, if the people praying with Umm Waraqa were from the surrounding area, they were all women, as Imam ad-Daraqutni’s version of the tradition makes clear. Here the text specifically states, “Her women.” Ad-Daraqutni’s version would clarify a potentially vague expression in the other versions. As there are no other clarifying texts in this regard, we would have to give preference to the clarification provided by Imam al-Daraqutni’s version of the tradition.

A third possibility, also based on joining between the majority narration and ad-Daraqutni’s version of the tradition, would lead us to understand that the people of Umm Waraqa’s house were all women. Hence, the people of her house (Ahla Dariha) being led in prayer were women. There is no transmitted evidence to the contrary, as the opinion that Ahla Dariha were the two servants and the prayer caller, mentioned above, is an assumption. In al-Mughni, Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi mentions the incumbency of accepting this third interpretation. [32] God knows best.

This latter understanding that Umm Waraqa only led women in prayer is strengthened by two ancillary evidences: 1) The numerous narrations mentioning that ‘Aisha, Umm Salama, and other female Companions led all women congregations; [33] 2) and the fact that when the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, established a mosque in the house of ‘Itban b. Malik, the congregation was all male [min ahli’d-Dar]. It would therefore make perfect sense for the Prophet to establish an all female congregation elsewhere.

Summary and Rulings

Based on the tradition of Umm Waraqa, its possible interpretations, and the other traditions mentioning women leading the prayer during the prophetic epoch, the Sunni jurists have deduced the following rulings:

1. The Shafi’i and Hanbali schools allow for a woman to lead other women in prayer without any restrictions. She can lead such prayers in the mosque or other places. The Hanafis permit a woman to lead other women in prayer. However, they hold it to be disliked. [34] All three of these schools stipulate that the woman leading the prayer should stand in the middle of the front row, without being in front of the women praying along with her. This is based on the description of the prayer led by ‘Aisha and Umm Salama. The Malikis hold that a woman cannot lead other women in the prayer. [35]

2. Of the three Sunni schools that hold it permissible for a woman to lead other women in prayer, none of them hold it permissible to lead men in an obligatory prayer. There is a minority opinion in the Hanbali school which permits a woman to lead men in Tarawih, if certain conditions prevail, providing she stands behind them. [36]

3. Imam an-Nawawi mentions the following ruling in the Majmu’, “If a woman leads a man or men in [a congregational] prayer, the prayer of the men is invalid. As for her prayer, and the prayer of the women praying with her, it is sound.” [37] As for the Friday prayer (Jumu’ah), he mentions the following, “…if a woman leads men in the Friday prayer, there are two rulings [concerning her prayer]. They have been mentioned by al-Qadi Abu Tayyib in his Ta’liq, the strongest opinion is that her prayer is invalid, the second is that it is lawfully begun as the noon prayer.” [38]

4. Some modern scholars hold it permissible for a woman to lead men in prayer within the confines of her house, if there are no men qualified to lead the prayer. [39]

5. Imams Abu Thawr, Dawud adh-Dhahiri, and at-Tabari, whose legal schools have been defunct for centuries, are related to have held it permissible for a woman to lead men in prayer. This opinion is also related from Imam Muzani, one of the principal narrators of the Shafi’i school. We will examine this issue in greater detail, as it serves as one of the evidences offered by Reda for the validity of unrestricted female prayer leadership.

The Rulings of al-Muzani, Abu Thawr, Dawud adh-Dhahiri, and at-Tabari

As for the ancillary evidence ushered by Reda, [40] it is her saying:

The above Prophetic tradition (hadith) is the reason why several medieval Muslim scholars supported female leadership. These include Tabari (d. 310/923), author of the famous Tafsir: Jami’ al-bayan ‘an ta’wil ay al-Qur’an and Tarikh al-Rasul wal Muluk, Muzani, Abu Thawr and Abu Sulayman Dawud ibn Khalaf al-Isfahani (d. 270/884), founder of the Zahirite (literalist) school. [41]

We mention this evidence as ancillary because it cannot be the basis for establishing a ruling. None of the extant Sunni schools consider the opinions of extinct schools as independently valid. This fact is not due to prejudice against the Imams of the extinct schools and unjustly favoring those whose schools have survived. It is due to a simple methodological issue. Namely, neither the full corpus of rulings from the extinct schools, nor the details of their legal methodology have reached us in their entirety. Therefore, we do not know if a particular ruling attributed to an extinct school has been abrogated by another ruling in that school.

As for al-Muzani, he was a qualified jurisconsult within the Shafi’i rite. However, it cannot be established with certainty that he founded an independent school. [42] It is known that he narrates, in his Mukhtasir, the accepted opinion of Imam ash-Shafi’i that a woman can only lead other women in the prayer. [43] It is also related in the Mukhtasir that Imam al-Muzani said:

The prayer of anyone praying behind someone in a state of major ritual impurity, a woman, an insane person, or a disbeliever is acceptably conveyed if he is unaware of his/her [the imam’s] state. [44]

From this we can infer that the prayer of the follower in all of these scenarios is unacceptable if he knows of the imam’s state. This would include his prayer behind a woman. As for the opinion that Imam al-Muzani actually endorsed female prayer leadership, it has not reached us in any extant document.

Concerning the opinion of Imam Dawud adh-Dhahiri, Ibn Hazm attempted to revive his school, based on a coherent, if debatable methodology. [45] This methodology led Ibn Hazm to some very liberal positions, such as an endorsement of music, and the permissibility of female prophets. However, on the issue of female prayer leadership, Ibn Hazm opined that it was forbidden by consensus. The point here is that, based on a literalal methodology we can assume to be close to that of Imam Dawud adh-Dhahiri’s, an opinion contrary to that attributed to Imam Dawud has been reached. [46]

As for the reports of unrestricted female prayer-leadership that are attributed to the Imams we have mentioned, they have not reached us with unbroken chains, certainly not with irrefutable chains of transmission (tawatur), as is the case of the extant schools. In other words, there is no way for us to say with any degree of certainty that those opinions are indeed the opinions of Imams at-Tabari, Abu Thawr, and Dawud adh-Dhahiri. That being the case, there is no basis to establish the preponderance of the position of the extinct schools over that of the extant schools. [47] Since the extant schools have a clear position on unrestricted female prayer-leadership, and it is established at the highest level of proof, in the Sunni rite, [48] one is obliged to take that position. This obligation arises from a legislative maxim, “Certainty cannot be cancelled by doubt.” [49]

The Legislative Import of Prophetic Tradition [Hadtith]

The principal basis for Reda’s argument for unrestricted prayer leadership is the tradition of Umm Waraqa. This position highlights her methodological inconsistency concerning prophetic tradition. When the evidence advanced by tradition refutes her contentions, she discards the tradition in summary fashion. For example, she implies that the word for row [saff] mentioned in a tradition narrated by Abu Hurayra has no connection to the prayers, rather it refers to “battle rows.” [50] She arrives at this conclusion based on her position that this latter meaning, “battle row” is the only one that comes in the Qur’an. An objective examination of the relevant tradition reveals there is absolutely no way to support the conclusion that “row” has nothing to do with prayer. Examples of the use of the word row [saff] in connection to the prayer are too numerous to mention. For example, the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, is related to have said just before the congregational prayer, “Straighten yours rows (Sufuf, plural of Saff), for straightening the rows [Saff] is from the completion of the prayer -Sawwu Sufufakum fa inna Taswiya as-Saff min Tamam as-Salat.” Imam Muslim alone, in his rigorously authenticated collection of prophetic traditions, relates six versions of this instruction from four different Companions. [51] This tradition is also related by al-Bukhari, [52] Abu Dawud, [53] at-Tirmidhi, [54] an-Nasa’i, [55] and Ibn Majah. [56]

She also mentions that there was no gender segregation in the Prophet’s lifetime, peace and blessings of God upon him, rather it was introduced later.” [57] This claim is also refuted by prophetic tradition. In addition to the tradition narrated by Abu Hurayrah,[58] which Reda dismisses, there is overwhelming evidence to support gender segregation during worship services.  As for gender segregation in the prayer, again, proof for that during the prophetic epoch is irrefutable. I will relate a few instructive examples. Imam al-Bukhari relates in his rigorously authenticated collection of tradition, from Anas b. Malik, “I prayed along with an orphan boy behind the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, in my house. My mother, Umm Sulaym, [prayed] behind us.” [59] There are numerous other sound narrations of this tradition.

Another tradition relates that there was an extremely beautiful woman who used to pray in the congregation behind the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him. Some of the men would hasten to the front row of men in order not to be distracted by her. Others would procrastinate in order to be in the last row of men to look behind themselves at her when they bowed during the prayer. [60] This arrangement of the men in front of the women in the congregational prayer led by the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, is affirmed by the Qur’an, as this incident was the occasion for the revelation of the verse, We know those of you who hasten forward [to the front prayer rows], and we know those who lag behind. [Al-Qur’an 15:24] [61]

Imams al-Bukhari [62] and Muslim [63] mention a tradition relating that the Prophet peace and blessings of God upon him, used to address the women separately on the day of ‘Eid. One of Imam al-Bukhari’s versions is particularly instructive as it mentions, “…then he [the Prophet] advanced, splitting them [the rows of men] until he came to the women.” [64] He would then address them and exhort them to give charity. The point here is that if the men and women were not segregated, as is the custom in our congregational prayers until today, why would the Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, have to wade through the men to reach the women? If the women were mixed in with the men He would have had to first gather the women together. Hence, any claim that there was no gender segregation during the prophetic epoch is baseless. We could bring many more examples to prove this point, but what we have mentioned should suffice.

Similarly, Reda avoids the implications of tradition when she states, “Moreover, of the numerous occurrences in the Qur’an of fitnah or its derivatives, none apply to women.” [65] Based on this, and the authority of G.H.A. Juynboll, she concludes “…a hadith in which the Prophet supposedly referred to women as constituting man’s greatest fitnah in life.” [66] is “unreliable.” As for the hadith in question, it reads, “I have not left a tribulation [fitnah] more harmful to men than women.” Al-Bukhari, [67] Muslim, [68] and at-Tirmidhi, [69] have all related this tradition. Although we could discuss its meaning, the report itself is rigorously authenticated. As for the authority of Juynboll, Harald Motzki has demonstrated the unreliable nature of Juynboll’s hadith scholarship.  In discussing Juynboll’s effort to discredit all of the narrations from Nafi’ on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar, Motzki shows that his premises, conclusions, and methodology are all flawed. He notes:

The point of departure for our investigation has been the hypothesis that the main conclusions of Juynboll’s study on Nafi’ are not tenable. One of his hypotheses claimed that all of the Prophetical ahadith with the isnad Nafi’ –ibn ‘Umar found in the “canonical” collections –which are highly esteemed amongst Muslims –do not go back to Nafi’ but rather to Malik b. Anas. [70] We were able to show, using the same examples as Juynboll, namely the hadith on the alms of the breaking of the fast, that his hypothesis is wrong. There is no doubt that this hadith goes back to Ibn ‘Umar and was not invented by Malik. [71]

Motzki further states:

Juynboll’s conclusions in his article on Nafi’ are generalizations. They are not limited to the analyzed example, the zakat al-fitr hadith, but are judgments on all the Nafi’ –Ibn ‘Umar –ahadith. Since we were able to prove Juynboll’s conclusions wrong in at least one case, his general statements can be refuted. [72]

Reda presents the thinking of the orthodoxy on the issue of scholarly consensus [‘Ijma’] as a state of confusion. This disguises the fact that after the initial centuries of debate, most of the Sunni scholars were able to settle on a consistent definition of scholarly consensus. Wahba az-Zuhayli captures this meaning [of Ijma’] with the following definition, “The agreement of the qualified scholars from the Community of Muhammad, peace and blessings of God upon him, on a legislative ruling, after his death, during any subsequent era.” [73] As this definition hinges on the agreement of qualified scholars in a particular era, the consensus claimed by Ibn Hazm concerning unrestricted female prayer-leadership, would not be impossible. The Kharijites, due to their literalism, are not known to have produced high-level scholars. Hence, in the era that consensus may have occurred on the issue of unrestricted female prayer leadership, there could well have been no qualified scholars among the Kharijites to dissent.  As for groups such as the Ja’fari Shiites and the Zaydis, who generally do not recognize the legislative import of consensus, their ruling on the issue being discussed, agrees with the position of the Sunnis. Hence, there would likely be no dissension from their camp. As for the opinions of al-Muzani, Abu Thawr, Dawud adh-Dhahiri, and at-Tabari, we have mentioned some considerations earlier in this article, which would lead us to reject any statement attributed to them on this issue as being definitive. Surely, God knows best.

Conclusion

The other evidences mentioned by Reda, numbered from 3-7, dealing with the Qur’anic story of the Queen of Sheba, gender justice, gender discrimination, justice in general, and the need for men to listen to women, will not be dealt with in this article because they have no bearing on the derivation of legal rulings. [74] However, they are of importance in determining how existing rulings are to be understood and implemented. In this regard, Reda’s appeal for greater compassion, justice, and understanding is much appreciated.

From what we have presented above, it should be clear that a woman leading a mixed gender, public, obligatory congregational prayer is not something sanctioned by Islamic law, in the Sunni tradition. Her leading the Friday congregational prayer is even more unfounded, as she would be required to do things that are forbidden or disliked for her in other prayers. Saying this, we should not lose sight of the fact that there are many issues in our community involving the neglect, oppression, and in some instances, the degradation of our women. Until we address those issues, as a community, in an enlightened manner, we are open to criticism, and will likely encourage various forms of protest such as the woman-led “Jumu’ah.”

In addition to gender issues, we are faced by many other nagging concerns. These problems defy simplistic solutions. Only through the attainment of the prophetic virtues that Islam seeks to cultivate in it adherents will we have a chance to even begin dealing with them. One of the greatest of these virtues is humility. Perhaps, if the men of our community had more humility, we would behave in ways that do not alienate, frustrate, or outright oppress our women. Greater humility will help immensely in improving our condition. Our Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, has said in that regard, “No one humbles himself/herself for the sake of God except God elevates him/her.” [75] In addition to this elevation, another interpretation of this tradition is that the esteem of the humble person will be magnified in the hearts of others. Certainly, a healthier appreciation of each other would go a long way towards relieving the growing tension between the sexes in some quarters of our community.

We must also understand that Islam has never advocated a liberationist philosophy. [76] Our fulfillment in this life will never come as the result of breaking real or perceived chains of oppression. That does not mean that we should not struggle against oppressive practices and institutions. Islam enjoins us to do so. However, when we understand that success in such worldly struggles has nothing to do with our fulfillment as human beings, we will be able to keep those struggles in perspective, and not be moved to frustration or despair when their outcomes are counter to our plans.

Our fulfillment does not lie in our liberation, rather it lies in the conquest of our soul and its base desires. That conquest only occurs through our enslavement to God. Our enslavement to God in turn means that we have to suppress many of our souls’ desires and inclinations. Therein is one of the greatest secrets to unleashing our real human potential. This is so because it is our spiritual potential that separates us from the rest of this creation, and it is to the extent that we are able to conquer our physical nature that we realize that spiritual potential.

We must all realize that we will never achieve any meaningful change in our situation relying on our own meager resources. The great sage Ibn ‘Ata Allah as-Sakandari has said, “Nothing you seek through your Lord will ever be difficult; and nothing you seek through yourself will ever be easy.” [77] Now is the time to give ourselves wholeheartedly to our Lord. The trials and tribulations we are currently witnessing will only intensify as we move closer to the end of time. If we are not living for our Lord, relying on His guidance and help, and trusting in His wisdom, we will find it very difficult to negotiate our way through this world.

When we live for our Lord it becomes easy to live with each other. If in our personal relations we can come to embody the spirit of mutual love, mercy and affection, encouraged by our Prophet, peace and blessings of God upon him, we will be able to live together in harmony, and make a beautiful and lasting contribution towards the uplift of men and women alike. The times we live in cry out for such a contribution. The question is, “Who will respond?”

Notes

[1] Quoted in Ibn Humayd, Nadra an-Na’im, 5180.
[2] Ibn Humayd, Nadr an-Na’im, 5178.
[3] See Nevin Reda, “What Would the Prophet Do? The Islamic Basis for Female-Led Prayer,” March 10, 2005, at
[4] Reda, p. 1.
[5] Imam Muhammad al-‘Adhimabadi, ‘Awn al-Ma’bud Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi, nd), 2:300-301, no. 577-578.
[6] Imam “Ali b. ‘Umar ad-Daraqutni, Sunan ad-Daraqutni (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1996/1417), 1:284, no. 1071.
[7] Al-Bayhaqi, 3:186-187.
[8] Imam Muhammad b. ‘Abdullah al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak ‘ala as-Sahihayn (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1990/1411), 1:320, no. 730.
[9] Muhammad b. Sa’d az-Zuhri, at-Tabaqat al-Kubra (Beirut: Dar Ihya at-Tarath al-‘Arabi), 8:460, no. 4610.
[10] See Ahmad Khan, trans., Sunan Abu Dawud (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1984), 1: 155-156.
[11] His name is properly pronounced in the diminutive form Jumay’ as opposed to Jami’. See Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Tahdhib at-Tahdhib (Beirut: Dar al-Ma’rifa, 1996/1417), 6:87.
[12] See Shams ad-Din Muhammad b. Ahmad adh-Dhahabi, Mizan al-‘Itidal (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1995/1416), 7:129.
[13] Ibn Hajar, at-Tahdhib, 6:88.
[14] See Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Taqrib at-Tahdhib (Beirut: Mu’assah ar-Risala, 1999/1420), 281; Ibn Hajar, at-Tahdhib, 3:339.
[15] Ad-Daraqutni, 1: 284, no. 1071. Imam ad-Daraqutni mentions al-Walid as narrating the tradition from “his mother.”
[16] See Imam Jalaladdin as-Suyuti, Tadrib ar-Rawi (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi, 1996/1417), 1:268; Mulla ‘Ali al-Qari’, Sharh Nukhba al-Fikr (Beirut: Dar al-Arqam, nd), 519.
[17] Imam al-Bukhari has included a section in his compendium of rigorously-authenticated ahadith entitled, “Mosques in the Houses.” See Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 1:672.
[18] Ibid. section 46.
[19] Ibid, no. 425.
[20] Ibn Majah, 108, no. 755.
[21] Ibn Majah, 108, no. 759.
[22] Tahir Ahmad Zawi, Tartib al-Qamus al-Muhit (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, nd), 2:229; Ibn Mandhur, 5:325; Al-Isfahani, 321.
[23] An-Nadwi, 223.
[24] See al- Adhimabadi, 301-303.
[25] Reda, 4.
[26] For the Shafi’i position on this issue see ash-Shirbini, Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1:209.
[27] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 2:116, no. 609;
[28] We will discuss the opinions of these four Imams subsequently.
[29] ‘Abd al-Karim az-Zaydan, al-Mufassal fi Ahkam al-Mar’a wa’l Bayt al-Muslim (Beirut: Mu’assa ar-Risala, 1994/1410), 1:252.  Muhammad b. Isma’il as-Sana’ni, Subul as-Salam (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya), 2:76.
[30] Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari, 1:675.
[31] Ad-Daraqutni, as-Sunan, 1:284, no. 1071.
[32] See Muwaffaq ad-Din b. Qudama al-Maqdisi, al-Mughni (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, nd), 2:34.
[33] For a examples of these female-led prayers see For a summary of these narrations see al-‘Adhimabadi, 2:301-302; al-Bayhaqi, 3:186-187; Muhammad b. Idris ash-Shafi’i, Kitab al-Umm (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1983/1403), 8:117. Az-Zaydan, 1:251-256.
[34] See Muhammad Amin b. ‘Abideen, Hashiya Radd al-Mukhtar (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1995/1415), 1:609; ‘Ala ad-Din b. Mas’ud al-Kasani, Bada’ii As-Sana’ii Fi Tartib ash-Shara’ii (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyya, 1986/1407), 1:157.
[35] See Ahmad Zarruq and Qasim b. ‘Isa at-Tannukhi, Sharh ‘Ala Matn ar-Risala (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1986/1402), 1:192.
[36] For the Hanafi position on this issue see Ibn ‘Abideen, 1:609; for the Shafi’i position see an-Nawawi, Kitab al-Majmu’, 4:151-152. For the Hanbali position see, Ibn Qudama, al-Mughni, 2:34.
[37] An-Nawawi, al-Majmu’, 4:152.
[38] An-Nawawi, al-Majmu’, 4:165.
[39] See as-San’ani, Subul as-Salaam, 2:76; az-Zaydan, al-Mufassal, 1:252.
[40] I use the term “ancillary” to describe this “evidence” as it cannot serve as a primary source of legal rulings. In some circumstances, it could possibly support or strengthen a ruling established by one of the primary sources of law. Hence, its being described as ancillary. 
[41] Reda, 1-2.
[42] Muhammad Hashim Kamali, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 2003), 491-492.
[43] See ash-Shafi’i, Kitab al-Umm, 8:117.
[44] Ash-Shafi’i, 116.
[45] See Ibn Hazm al-Andulusi, Al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam, Ahmad Shakir, ed., (Beirut: Dar al-Afaq al-Jadida, 1980). The differences between the methodology of Ibn Hazm and the mainstream Sunnis have been most prominently highlighted by Imam al-Baji. See, Al-Mustafa al-Wadifi, al-Munadhara fi Usul ash-Shari’ah al-Islamiyya: Dirasa fi at-Tanadhur bayna Ibn Hazm wa’l-Baji, (Ribat: Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Kingdom of Morocco, 1998/1419).
[46] Ibn Hazm, Maratib al-Ijma’ (Beirut: Dar Ibn Hazm, 1998/1419), 51.
[47] This point is made for the sake of argument. In reality, the issue under discussion is not one that is eligible to be settled by establishing the strength or weakness of various opinons, because one of the conditions for such issues is that the two opposing positions be acceptable for establishing a ruling. See Imam Sayfuddin b. Abi ‘Ali al-Amidi, Al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1985/1405), 4:460.
[48] The prohibition of unrestricted female prayer-leadership is established by the consensus of the four Sunni Imams: Abu Hanifa, Malik, ash-Shafi’i, and Ahmad. A generally accepted principle among the Sunnis is that what the four Imams agree on is a binding ruling. In the last section of his treatise on the Creed of the Sunnis, Muwaffaq b. Qudamah al-Maqdisi writes, “Association with one of the Imams in jurisprudential matters, such as the four Sunni schools, is not condemnable. Their [the Imams] differing in legal rulings is a mercy. Those who differed among them are praised for their differences, rewarded for their assertion [in trying to ascertain the truth]. [Again,] their differing is an expansive mercy, and what they agreed on is a decisive proof.” Muwaffaq b. Qudamah al-Maqdisi, al-‘Itiqad (Cairo: Maktaba al-Qur’an, nd), 75. Ibn Hazm, and others claim that the prohibition of unrestricted female prayer-leadership is established by binding consensus. See Imam Ibn Hazm, Maratib, 51. Were it indeed the case that binding consensus has occurred on this issue, to reject it would be inappropriate in the Sunni tradition.
[49] An-Nadwi, al-Qawa’id, 105.
[50] Reda, 7.
[51] An-Nawawi, al-Minhaj, 4:376-388, nos. 974-979.
[52] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 2:272, no. 723.
[53]Abu Dawud, 107, no. 668.
[54] At-Tirmidhi, 72, no. 227.
[55] An-Nasa’i, 112, no. 812-814. 
[56] Ibn Majah, 140, nos. 993-994.
[57] Reda, 7.
[58] Reda, 7.
[59] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 275, no. 727.
[60] This narration is produced by Imam al-Bayhaqi in his collection. Al-Bayhaqi, 3:139, nos. 5169, and 5170.
[61] Al-Qur’an 15:24. For an explanation of the circumstance surrounding the revelation of this verse see Imam Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti, Lubab an-Nuqul fi Asbab an-Nuzul (Beirut: Dar al-Ma’rifa, 1997/1418), p. 172. This tradition is also related by at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa’i, al-Hakim, and others.
[62] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 2:601, no. 978-979.
[63] An-Nawawi, al-Minhaj, 3:420-421, no. 2054.
[64] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 2:601, no. 978-979.
[65] Reda, 8.
[66] Reda, 8.
[67] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 9:172, no. 5096.
[68] An-Nawawi, al-Minhaj, 9:57, no. 6880.
[69] At-Tirmidhi, 627-628, no. 2780.
[70] Juynboll alleges that Imam Malik fabricated all of the ahadith he relates from Nafi’.
[71] Harald Motzki, “Whither hadith-studies? A Critical examination of G.H.A. Juynboll’s ‘Nafi’ the mawla of Ibn ‘Umar, and his position in Muslim Hadith –Literature Part 2” trans. Frank Griffel. Der Islam 73 (1996): 1.
[72] Ibid. 18.
[73] Wahba az-Zuhayli, Usul al-Fiqh al-Islami, (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1998/1418) 1:490.
[74] Reda, 2.
[75] An-Nawawi, al-Minhaj, 9:358, no. 6535.
[76] By liberationist philosophy, I refer to the idea that the elimination of real or imagined forms of oppression will result in the end of human alienation, lack of fulfillment, or other negative psychological states. An illustration of a liberationist philosophy, consistent with this meaning, is Marxism, which posits that once the oppression of capitalism is eradicated human alienation will end as humans appropriate their formerly usurped production.
[77] ‘Abdul-Majid ash-Sharnubi, Sharh al-Hikam al-‘Ata’iyya (Damascus: Dar Ibn Kathir, 1992/1413), 38.

Imam Zaid Shakir is, in many ways, the quintessential American: a youth with a two newspaper route, a high school football player, a member of the United States Air Force, a student activist at Rutgers University, a university professor, a foster father - and a respected Islamic Scholar. Born in Berkeley, California to a family descended from African, Irish and Native American roots, Imam Zaid is one of the most important voices within Islam today and a leading advocate for social change and economic justice.

He talks to Dr. Noreen A. Kassem about finding the heart of Islam, traditional learning, ‘going it alone’ and his new book, Scattered Pictures, Reflections of an American Muslim.

As Muslims, we are carrying the Word of God in an increasingly secular, militarized, and alienated world. What it means to carry that word is not an unknowable abstraction. We carry it by following the concrete example of our Noble Messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings of God upon him. In carrying the word, he endured unimaginable abuses and he persevered through them because he was inspired by a grand vision. That vision was to see his people saved by the life-giving, life-affirming message of Islam. 

These impelling words are from the essay “Clash of the Uncivilized,” Imam Zaid’s response to the cartoon controversy. In that recent frenzy and at many other critical junctures, the Imam is a guide to look to for a calm, cerebral perspective. His, is a refreshingly clear and rational voice above the din of rhetoric, empty speech and simplistic views.  Trained and experienced in both socio-political and Islamic sciences, Imam Zaid walks the talk of ‘carrying the word’ in the West.

Recent events have embroiled Muslims in controversy and confusion. What it means to be a Western Muslim has become one of the most important questions of our time. Imam Zaid believes in a practical Islam for America, flatly rejecting both secular and religious extremist notions that Islam must be defined in opposition to the West. He states that the foundational values of Islam are compatible with the best of Western values and embodies this belief through the connection of all his personal, political and spiritual endeavours.

The opening chapter of Scattered Pictures tells the story of the life that shaped one of the most influential Islamic scholars in the West, today. We met with Imam Zaid at the Zaytuna Institute in Hayward, California, where he has served as resident scholar since 2003.

Speaking with Imam Zaid is similar to talking to your favourite professor; the one that saw your potential, and helped nurture your ideas, knowledge, and critical thinking. The Imam is approachable, charismatic and patient, with a gentle, comedic side. He is also a direct and well-informed speaker, eloquently vocalizing thoughts on topics ranging from Turkish nationalism and the economic stability of Syria to race-relations in America and traditional Islamic teaching methods.

Imam Zaid dedicated Scattered Pictures to the memory of his mother, Richelene Whitaker Mitchell.

In it, he eulogizes her as an evocative writer whose intellect was not stifled by the fact that she was a single mother raising seven children in the projects. He wrote, “She had come to understand that true human liberation would only come through the discovery of our true humanity.” We ask him what other lessons his mother impressed upon him. “From my mother I inherited the desire to constantly do better. She was always trying to improve our situation under very difficult circumstances. She taught me the importance of keeping your head. To accomplish anything you need a clear head. My siblings today who are not Muslim have also not fallen into the trap of substance abuse. I also learned that your dignity has nothing to do with your economic status.” His own early experiences, growing up in poverty stricken housing projects, resonated in his soul and left him with the purposeful goal to work for the betterment of people, for the ‘common good’ of all.

After the death of his mother and after much deliberation, Imam Zaid decided to join the US Air Force.  Since the Vietnam war was over, he did not expect to be called upon to kill “in the name of God and country.” Instead, the armed forces, which recruited him through the ‘poverty draft,’ provided him with shelter and sustenance and enabled him to pursue an education. His military years would give him an insider’s perspective on what US President Eisenhower warned of as “the military industrial complex”: “It is obvious that war is big business. I worked in the context of logistics and you see this impressive globalized logistical network that is set up basically to kill people. Then there is the business infrastructure that supports that and the tax dollars that are funneled into it as well. War is big business and it’s nothing new.” He cites the example of Geronimo, a native American warrior who in the last major act of indigenous resistance, led a band of only 38 people, including women and children and evaded capture by 5,000 US troops and the Mexican army for over a year until surrendering in 1884. “They sent out the US calvary, - thousands of troops - to get 38 people.” Adds Imam Zaid, “It was all about supporting the profiteering network that was benefiting financially from supplying that army.” He admits there were positive aspects to his military service, namely, “It instilled a lot of discipline and respect for authority, which are important in everyone’s life.”

In the Air Force, he would also meet his wife, Saliha, a tireless and dynamic counterpart to his purpose driven life. Imam Zaid laughs when we ask him about her, “She’s too hardworking, she needs a vacation.” He adds, “We were both very much in an activist mindset when we met, both looking at it in the same way. I think that you shouldn’t become tired in trying to do something positive together. And you should never reach a point in a marriage where you become complacent with each other, never retire.”

After his departure from the Air Force, Imam Zaid would go on to complete his studies in International Relations at the American University in Washington, DC and then a Masters degree in Political Science at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Did his choice of academic disciplines stem from his early resolution to incite social change? “Yes, indirectly. I wanted to learn how the world works in order to change it. I was idealistic and highly motivated. There is a big Ummah out there and it needs a new direction.”

Imam Zaid had always been a spiritual person, meditating often, perhaps more so before his search for God led him to Islam. “I would often go into the woods, even alone and just wander and lose myself. I would sit down and reflect; I went through a deep meditative and contemplative phase before I became a Muslim.” So it is discernible that the Imam is convinced of the human necessity for spirituality and its transformational force on every aspect of one’s life: “When I was a growing up as a Christian child, every night we would stop and say our prayers and it was just communion with God, ‘Oh God give me this, help me with that. Thank you God, I love you God’. Now our kids don’t commune with God. We need to encourage our kids to communicate with God and have intimate conversations. For many people, prayer has become mechanical because they are not reflecting much on God before entering into it. A person who rarely thinks about God will inevitably have difficulty reflecting in his prayers. On the other hand, someone who wakes up in the morning and remembers God, reads Qur’an every morning and prays on the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him. Someone who takes time to be conscious of God and remember invocations will find it a lot easier to be mindful of God in their prayers. For the latter person, prayer is just reinforcing and strengthening their general spirituality.”

“Spirituality is very important and should be an active part of our lives, our children’s lives and an active part of our educational curriculum. The heart is then more sensitive to the Creator and that enhances our attainment of education, awareness of social justice, ecological and environmental issues. By being sensitive to the Creator, we are more sensitive to the creation. Spirituality gives us an awareness of those things that guard our relationship with the Divine and that leads to a propensity to safeguard our relationship with other people and our environment,” he maintains.

Speaking of the heart and its purification is something that has become somewhat removed from some Islamic methodologies in modern times, so we asked Imam Zaid about his journey to becoming a more balanced, traditional scholar of Islam: “A friend who had taken a Salafi view of Islam influenced the rest of us, who were new Muslims at the time. However I became a kinder, gentler Salafi, not the stern-faced kind who tells you your hijab is too short, your beard is too short, - everything is too short,” he said lightheartedly.

“On a serious note, just seeing the effect that sort of thinking had on people, producing self-righteous, constantly condemning, cynical, overly critical, rigid people. I said to myself, producing that sort of individual could not have been the goal of our Prophet, peace and blessings upon him. It could not have been his mission. I just figured something is wrong here, this can’t be what it’s all about. So I started looking for other forms of Islamic expression. That is not to say that all Salafis are like the type I have described here. I know many wonderful, balanced believers who would call themselves Salafis. These are just my personal experiences.”

In Scattered Pictures, Imam Zaid shares details of this spiritual journey, which would eventually take him abroad and compel him to state, “It was in Syria where I discovered my humanity.” The choice to move to Syria was initially a practical one; it was an affordable place to gain Islamic knowledge. However, it would soon prove to be the place that would mark Imam Zaid’s embrace of traditional scholarship and outlooks, and where he and his wife would remain for almost seven years, under the tutelage of some of the greatest Islamic scholars in the world. It was there that the Imam discovered a “fuller, richer religious expression” as he immersed himself in the traditional learning of the Arabic language, Islamic law, Qur’anic studies, and spirituality.

The former university professor also takes stock of his educational experiences and observations at home and abroad to outline his vision for a whole and holistic education for children in a Muslim educational system.

“The standard curriculum that prevails in most Western Islamic schools, has Islamic Studies and Arabic courses as appendices. What is really needed is a system based on a traditional Islamic curriculum and the Arabic language. If there was a serious effort to use Islam to enforce how other subjects are taught there wouldn’t be a contradiction between the Islamic and modern secular.” He elaborates, drawing constructive and viable examples, “Mathematics wouldn’t be strictly abstract but include application in Islamic laws, for example teaching how percentages are relevant in inheritance laws and in zakat (obligatory charity) calculations. In English, we would have students read related Islamic texts, in addition to those legally mandated. So all subjects that are taught, - history, biology, English,- would directly involve religious instruction. Islamize the curriculum. Have the core in Arabic; there is no reason why we can’t take children from the first grade to twelfth, and have them become fluent in Arabic and Islamic studies. This will give them the ability to converse and participate in discourse on various Islamic sciences. With a firm rooting and understanding of the methodology of hadith, understanding how the Qur’an was compiled and translated throughout history, memorizing the Qur’an, they won’t be vulnerable to the negative arguments and thoughts that sway a lot of Muslims.”

Imam Zaid also elaborates on the Zaytuna Institute’s ongoing plans to establish an Islamic seminary for men and women and why these educational institutions are important in the West: “It’s very important that we have credible educational institutions in the West, so we can begin to produce our own scholars. That’s important because only children who have grown up in this environment can have an understanding of the issues and a command of the nuances of language to communicate effectively and address the problems of this society. We know what the educational needs of our young people are. We can structure programs and identify what is essential, what is most beneficial for our situation. Everywhere in the world you see indigenous scholars for indigenous people.”

Like many people of minority and immigrant populations in the West, Imam Zaid faced racial prejudice, and economic and social injustice, yet he was able to move beyond hatred, bitterness and apologia, due in large part to his exposure to Islam. “First of all, it’s not the Prophetic way. Secondly, bitterness and hatred distorts your ability to see things as they are. So the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him, said constantly, ‘Don’t become angry,’ because at the heart of his mission was introducing us to reality. Emotional states affect the heart and that affects intellect and clarity of thought. So it is very important to have a clear mind, to be able to access things as rationally and pragmatically as possible. Anything that affects clarity of the mind, be it physically such as intoxicants, or emotionally or spiritually such as bitterness and anger, must be avoided. Certainly, there are situations where you need to be angry, but our anger should be situational, not a constant description of our condition.”

He further notes, “There are no benefits to bitterness. If one is exceedingly bitter then one tends to see other groups of people as being responsible for one’s situation. That feeling of victimization is not healthy. Rather it is a detriment to constructive action. Victimization usually leads to inaction because problems are always ‘someone else’s fault’. That being the case, there is little ‘I’ can do to fix them.”

When respected scholar from Yemen, Shaykh Al-Habib Ali al-Jifri, visited the US, Imam Zaid took him to visit the grave site of Malcolm X, in New York. He addresses the significance of Malcolm X to our Ummah today: “Malcolm X was very much committed to serving his people, and as his career broadened, serving humanity. I think that as Muslims we need to focus on that message, on that aspect of Islam. That this is not a self-serving religion, but a religion of service to others. It is also not a religion of isolation. Islam does encourage meditation and contemplation and it is encouraged to go on temporary retreats, such as in Ramadan, but not isolation. Meditation and contemplation are all part of making the individual stronger and better able to serve the community.”

He continues, “We see that Malcolm X, whatever he learned and whatever position he attained in his spiritual development, he placed it at the service of the people. I think that is a very important message.  Additionally, Malcolm X is a bridge between the African American community and the Muslim community because he was a Muslim and he was also a champion of the African American people. That is a reality and we need to utilize that legacy, because these are times when Muslims need as many allies as possible.” Imam Zaid also passionately encourages marching alongside and reaching out to other communities subjected to “cultural tyranny” such as the Latino community in America. “Let us follow in the footsteps of Malcolm X and let us reach out to the sister communities.”

In the opening essay, Clash of the Uncivilized, Imam Zaid also warns of a day approaching Muslims in the West, when they will have to ‘go it alone’. When asked what ‘going it alone,’ means, he says, “It would be positive for both Eastern and Western Muslims. For example, in the issue of the moon-sighting, let’s decide on a day based on the sighting in the area we live in. That would avoid a lot of confusion and disunity, especially pre-Ramadan, We can be a positive example for Eastern Muslims. If they knew what they were doing could not divide us, perhaps they would be more inclined to uniting themselves.”

“Concerning the cartoon controversy, after all the demonstrations that took place, there is still no (Danish) apology, there have been no real changes. It has just left a lot of Muslims frustrated. We need to develop an agenda that is controlled by us and not defined by what the media tells us should be our interest. That means defining the issues that are important to us on our terms”.

On the issue of the role of women in the mosque, in Islamic institutions and in the community, he remarks: “If we are to have a whole and wholesome community, the role of women in our mosques and other institutions must reflect the role of women in greater society. If the role of women in a society is a domestic one, then that’s fine; that is the society’s equilibrium and balance. But in the West there is growing disparity between men and women. Women are becoming better educated and that translates into a social situation where women, including Muslim women are functioning at every level of society; in professions of medicine, administration, education - every level, though perhaps under-represented in auto mechanics. Until Islamic institutions reflect that inclusiveness for women, we’re going to have a dysfunctional society. We must accept the role of women in the general society as the role of women in our mosques, with safeguards for the parameters that Islam sets. Women are on the board of city council, schools, and they should be on the boards of mosques.  There is nothing in Islam to prevent this, but we must maintain Islamic etiquette.”

He further maintains: “This is a balanced argument. There is nothing to prevent them from positions on the board if they are the most qualified. It is cultural schizophrenia if a man accepts going to work with women as his peers or as figures of authority on various boards, but then doesn’t accept that in the mosque. Also everyone, regardless of gender, should have equal access to the main prayer space and have the maturity to respect the space. This is a valid argument made by credible scholars.”

Imam Zaid’s remarkable journey stemmed from the heart; a heart which in essence called him to a faith that would embrace and encourage his social, moral and philosophical aspirations. He proficiently expounds on a hadith (Prophetic saying) regarding this subject: “Awareness emanates from the heart and if the heart is sound, the whole body is sound; if it’s corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. The commentary for that hadith further explains the parables for the individual, both physically and spiritually. On the physical level, if the heart is not functioning properly to pump blood, it will affect the body. On a spiritual level, if the heart is sound, then the limbs of the body will do sound things. But if it is sick then the limbs are going to do sick things.”

“It is also a parable for society, the heart of society is the individual and if the individual is corrupt then the society is going to be corrupt. Society is characterized by the individuals comprising it, and the wholesomeness or the corruption of the individual stems from the state of his or her heart. The nature of our society will reflect that, so we see a lot of sick hearts and as a result we are seeing the sort of things that we witness daily. The heart of the individual is the heart of society.”

Imam Zaid Shakir draws on his well-cultivated theological and sociological perspective to analyze the role of Islam and Muslims in the West. While he personifies the best holistic practices and cutting-edge thought that Islam requires to root deeply and flourish in the West; the Imam also embodies the rationality, spirituality, and breadth of traditional knowledge. This enables him to connect to people across race, class, ethnic and even national lines. He has a compassionate, realistic work ethic that was not fostered in idyllic circumstances but in our streets, classrooms and homes. In a time when so much seems so desperately unhinged, Imam Zaid Shakir is a genuine voice of balance and of concern for beneficial change. Far from being just an American imam, he is an imam for our Ummah. 

Dr. Noreen Kassem

(slightly edited from the original version)

If we consider the nature of fascism, we can see that the ideology driving the agenda Mr. Bush is pushing shares far more with the fascist movements of the 20th Century than any of the Islamic groups or states he and his political allies seek to condemn. Consider that one of the principal innovations of the fascist movement, introduced by Hitler in Mein Kampf, and perfected by his principal propagandist, Joseph Goebbels, was the “big lie.” The basic premise of this idea was that if one tells a big enough lie often enough and with adequate conviction, most people will hold it to be true, for the average person does not believe that anyone would have the audacity to lie so brazenly. Therefore, what is being alleged must be true.

Leaving aside the allegations of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, a skillful use of the “big lie” technique, let us consider the allegation that so-called Islamic Fascism threatens Western Civilization. This is another big lie. The nature of this lie is revealed by the fact Ayman Zawahari, Usama Bin Laden, and the movements they lead were incapable of posing a significant threat to the Egyptian and Saudi states respectively. Zawahari’s Jihad group was ruthlessly crushed by the Egyptian government during the mid-1990s. Bin Laden’s challenge to the Saudi state in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War was similarly thwarted. Hence, both men eventually ended up in a cave in Afghanistan. The terrorist acts they orchestrated in Egypt and Saudi Arabia proved to be a nuisance, in a strategic sense. However, at no time did those acts constitute an existentialist threat to either state.

While terrorist acts perpetrated by what has come to be known as al-Qaeda may be disruptive, they could never pose a significant threat to the integrity of Western Civilization, neither politically, economically, nor socially. By way of illustration, it took less than two months for the stock markets to rebound to pre-September 11, 2001 levels in the aftermath of the attacks of that day. Today, five years after those attacks, American exports are higher, global trade levels, led by the United States, are higher, world tourism is up, domestic air travel, the sector hardest hit in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, has surpassed pre-9/11 levels, and legal immigration to the United States is as high as it has ever been.

Those attacks, which occurred under dubious circumstances that have yet to be thoroughly investigated, are unlikely to be replicated and did little lasting damage to this country. This illustrates the overblown threat of the “Islamic Fascist” enemy.

The question here is how could groups that were incapable of destabilizing two middling Third World states pose a mortal threat to the United States, the world’s sole superpower? Moreover, how could such groups ever pose an existentialist challenge to the whole of Western Civilization? The very allegation is so preposterous that we can only describe it as a “big lie.”

Closely associated with this lie is the allegation that Bin Laden, and now Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are comparable to Hitler and Stalin. Such an allegation is totally baseless. Both Hitler and Stalin presided over modern industrial states with strategic resources that rivaled and in many sectors surpassed those of Western Europe and even America. Hitler’s Germany was the most advanced state on earth, in terms of military technology. They were the first nation to employ militarily-viable ballistic missiles, the V-2 rocket; a jet-powered tactical fighter aircraft, the Messerschmitt Me 262, and at one point were months away from developing an atomic bomb. Stalin’s Soviet Union possessed the largest collection of conventional armed forces on earth, and would eventually preside over a nuclear arsenal of over 20,000 warheads, most of them aimed at the major industrial, military, and population centers of the United States. These warheads were situated on sophisticated land, sea, and air-based delivery systems that posed a significant threat to the survival of the United States and Western Europe.

As compared to the resources possessed by those states, the “Islamic Fascists” have nothing. Only one Muslim country, Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons, and that country’s handful of nuclear warheads is neutralized by India’s larger and more sophisticated nuclear arsenal, as well as Israel’s estimated 200-300 nuclear bombs. By all reasonable estimates, Iran is at least five years away from developing a nuclear bomb, and possesses no delivery system capable of reaching Western Europe, to say nothing of America. As for non-state “Islamic Fascists” they possess neither a nuclear weapon nor any delivery systems.

As far as the threat of a an agent of an “Islamic Fascist” organization or state getting his hand on a small nuclear devise and carrying it to the United States to be detonated, that threat is less credible than a rogue security operative affiliated with a western power getting his hand on such a devise. Such an eventuality itself is less credible than any random act of terrorism that may emanate from an unimaginable array of actors. As last year’s shootings in Montreal and a rash of school shooting sprees throughout the United States demonstrate, any stray lunatic is capable of engaging in unanticipated acts of terrorism at any time. That is a threat that we lived with before 9/11, and it is a threat we will have to continue to live with. If the billions of dollars we are spending on “homeland” security are not making us any safer from these threats then we need to take a hard look at how that money is being spent.

Another pertinent aspect of fascism is its glorification of the nation. This glorification of the nation by all fascist powers made fascistic governments vehemently opposed to all forces that ran counter to the ability of the nation to consolidate its control, both over the territory under its sway, and over the lives of individual citizens. Here the following statement, attributed to Mussolini, is extremely instructive, “The Italian nation is an organism having ends, life, and means of action superior to those of the separate individuals or groups of individuals which compose it.” Since its inception, fascism has been one of the greatest threats to individual liberties in the Western world. As we look at our shrinking civil liberties should we not see the shadow of fascism lurking over our lives and institutions? 

Does this description of a nation-state centric ideology more closely conform to the advocates of the Bush agenda, or the so-called “Islamic Fascists” who are advocates of a trans-national ideology that sees the nation-states as a western, neo-colonial innovation that has been imposed on the Muslim people via European colonization of Muslim lands? The answer should be quite clear. If anything, Islamic militancy, based on its stated goals, should be more closely associated with the anarchistic movements appearing in Europe beginning in the latter part of the 19th Century. Like many of today’s Islamic movements, those movements sought the eradication of the prevailing nation-state system, and the destruction of the institutions that support it. Hence, the ideological similarities between those movements and anarchism are far greater than the similarities between those movements and fascism. Why then are those Islamic movements being associated with fascism?

The answer is simple. If today’s Islamic movements were associated with anarchism, the antithesis of totalitarianism, it would be impossible to then draw a comparison between the leaders of those movements and the leaders of the totalitarian regimes that once posed a very real threat to the integrity of the West. Anarchism has no Hitler or Stalin to serve as its identifiable symbol. By drawing a link between Islamic movements and fascism, the symbolic leader of those movements, Bin Laden, in the eyes of the western public, can be linked to the symbolic leaders of the totalitarian menaces of the past century, Hitler and Stalin. Hence, evil can be given a tangible “face” which can serve as a symbolic representation of the totalitarian menace those movements allegedly embody.

This process of vilification and negative “branding” has been clearly illustrated in the campaign against Ahmadinejad. Although he is an elected official of limited tenure who lacks deep and lasting power in the Iranian political system, he has been transformed into a symbol of the evil Islamic enemy. All of the nuances and complexities of the Iranian political system, the various loci of political power within that system, and the movements representing opposition to it have all been glossed over by the stereotyped symbolism associated with a single individual. 

Another salient feature of fascism is that it is an ideology that elevates the national leader to the status of a symbolic representation of the nation itself. This aspect of fascism is captured brilliantly in a leading social science text:

At the head of the fascist elite is the leader –Il Duce in Italy or Der Fuehrer in Germany- in whose name everything is done, who is said to be “responsible” for all, but whose acts can nowhere be called into question. The leader is neither a scholar nor a theorist, but a charismatic man of action.

If we examine the nature of the leaders of contemporary Islamic movements and the nature of the leader of the regime in Washington D.C., which more closely conforms to a fascist description? Again, the answer should be clear.

Here a critical question is in order, “If fascism is an inaccurate description of today’s Islamic movements, why is the association being pushed so vehemently by some parties?” I would look to the history of fascism for the answer. One of the most dastardly programs birthed by fascism is what the Nazis referred to as the final solution, the endlösung, which involved the extermination of the Jewish population of Germany. Many of those who so loudly trumpet the term “Islamic Fascists” envision their own endlösung for the Muslims. To illustrate this point, I will quote directly from one of their recent proclamations. On July 21, 2006, Warner Todd Huston writes, on the website of the prominent African American conservative and former candidate for the United States Senate, Alan Keyes:

So, we feel the only true solution is that millions of Muslims must be killed and the sooner the better it will be for the whole world. Not because Jews are somehow perfect or that Muslims just plain “need killing,” but because Islam is so patently evil and needs to be defeated!

Such calls are now commonplace in even mainstream print and electronic media here in the United States. The fact that Keyes, as mentioned above, was a candidate for the Senate, and that Huston occasionally writes for the Los Angeles Times illustrates just how mainstream this hatemongering has become.

If we search the proclamations of the “Islamic Fascists” we find no parallel calls for a “final solution,” neither against Jews nor others. Hamas calls for the liberation of Palestinian lands not the physical elimination of the Jews. Al-Qaeda calls for the end of Americans strategic presence in the Middle East and not the destruction of America. The Iraqi resistance calls for the end of the American occupation of Iraq and not the end of America. The various Jihad groups in Kashmir call for the termination of the Indian occupation of Kashmir and not the termination of India. The Chechen resistance calls for the end of the brutal Russian occupation of their lands and not the end of Russia. Even if some obscure, obscurantist Islamic groups were to make calls for the destruction of America, Israel, India, Russian, or any Western power, they posses no strategic resources to translate those threats into credible military action. To elevate such groups to the level of Nazi Germany or the former Soviet Union is a disingenuous ploy to mask a patently racist, potentially genocidal agenda.

I will conclude by mentioning a final feature of fascism. The three most powerful fascist regimes of the 20th Century, Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, and Hirohito’s Japan, if we include the latter amongst the 20th Century fascist states, all pursued irrational, militaristic, imperialist policies that led to their ruin. Again, if we examine the policies of the current regime in Washington D.C and the consequences of its policies for this country we must ask, “Who are the fascists?” The American people must ask and answer this question with dispassionate honesty and forthrightness. The nature of the answer will go a long way in determining the future of this republic