Feminism and the The Submission of the Muslimah

• Obedient Muslim women submitting to their husbands in a post-Feminist world
• What are the implications of “Muslim Feminists” who refuse to submit?

The battle of leadership

The grappling for leadership within the Muslim household is a new social phenomenon and a direct consequence of Feminism, which has plummeted its way into the fabric of thought and action amongst many Muslim women in the west. This bleeding ideology has contaminated the minds and souls of a plethora of Gen Zers as well as Millennials alike. Its devastating effects are evident in the breakdown of the family unit. In turn, the first step in implementing feminist ideology can be seen within the walls of the family home. The depletion of obedience and submissiveness to the male leader in the household is, more seriously, a lack of submission to the will of Allah. And as Muslim women, we submit to Allah and Allah alone. As we see, Allah says in the Holy Qur’an, in Surat an Nisa, 34:

الرِّجَالُ قَوَّامُونَ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ بِمَا فَضَّلَ اللَّهُ بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ وَبِمَا أَنفَقُوا مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ ۚ فَالصَّالِحَاتُ قَانِتَاتٌ حَافِظَاتٌ لِّلْغَيْبِ بِمَا حَفِظَ اللَّهُ…

“Men are authorities over women, by right of what Allah has granted one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient and guard in [the husband’s] absence what Allah would have them guard…”

Evidently, the narrative that feminists propel is the total antithesis of Islam. And the effects of kowtowing to the agenda of the Feminist movement will only lead to the further degradation of society. Therefore, the war on Feminism is not only a just war but rather a fundamental one.

The mindset of the “modern” Muslimah has been driven by the indoctrination of Individualism in the West. The carnage of the mass Media machine, which thrusts a fallacious narrative of “female empowerment” upon young impressionable minds, can be seen in Netflix debuts such as “The Incredible Jessica James”, coupled with a lack of orthodox, traditional, female Muslim role models today.

A lack of traditional role models

Sadly, most sisters who have large platforms on social media drive the narrative that a successful woman is one who courts a man who will cower to her whims and every desire and will allow her to have her own way (also referred to as a Simp). This is seemingly the measure of success. Of course, all while imparting in-depth wisdom to her followers about how to “layer your Niacinamide correctly and contour your nose well”.

This, in effect, results in the clouding of the Fitra, as the “Muslim Feminist” is unaware of her core identity and who she really is. And is subsequently unsatiated by who Allah designed her to be. In turn, forming a crippling ability to recognise the brilliance of her worth and her station.

وليس الذكر كالأنثى…

“And the male is not like the female…”

(Surat Ali `Imran, 36)

Consequently, it is imperative to assess whether this wave of rebellion has brought any merit to the parties involved or society at large.

It can be deduced (as this is a modern social phenomenon) that the depletion of submissiveness on the part of the Muslim woman has not only resulted in much disharmony between the sexes but has also been a factor in the rise of divorce and has thus impacted children and society at large. According to the 2020 House of Commons Briefing Paper, over 90% of women using Shariah councils in Britain are women asking for Divorce.

When assessing the overall effects of Feminism on women themselves, the Longitudinal study by Blanchflower and Oswald (1970 –1990) asserts that the Anti-female discrimination policy has not been successful in either country. 100, 000 women were interviewed, and the majority showcased a decrease in well-being.

In addition, 1 and 5 women aged between 40 and 59 over used antidepressants in the USA from 2015-2018.

Men and Women were designed to compliment one another

The harmonious synergy between men and women has always been one of dominance, leadership, assertiveness, and guidance for the man and submission, support, love, and care for the woman.

In the corpus of modern relationship literature, Emerson Eggerichs, the best-selling author of ‘Love and Respect, asserts: “Women need love. Men need respect. It’s as simple and as complicated as that.” He poses the question, ‘If you were forced to choose one of the following, which would you prefer to endure—to be left alone and unloved in the world, or to feel inadequate and disrespected by everyone? In his sample of 400 males, 74% said that if they were forced to choose, they would prefer feeling alone and unloved rather than feeling disrespected and inadequate. The female sample found that an overwhelming majority prioritised feeling loved over anything else. Therefore, women need love and men need respect when selecting a spouse for marriage, it is of great importance that a woman selects a man that she respects and looks up to.

Furthermore, as conducted by a study at University of Wroclaw (2014), Dr Sorokowski findings conclude that women show sexual preference for tall, dominant men. Women are naturally inclined to men who are dominant leaders. It could therefore be suggested that this is a part of the Fitra (innate disposition) of a woman, and it is socialisation that causes her to deviate from this.

The idiosyncrasies of Feminism in the mind of a Muslimah distort her understanding of the status of women in Islam. Imam Al-Dahabi states that 14 of the hadiths were relayed by a woman, our beloved mother, Ayesha RA. Ayesha RA followed the leadership of Prophet Mohammed (saw) and loved and cared for him. If it were not for her, there would be no Islam. This further supports the notion that we, as Muslim women, are not in need of any other “isms” or “skisms”, as the mother of the believers followed the lead of a man, the best of all creation, Prophet Mohammed (saw). There are no Prophets who were females, and there are no leaders who were female. We derive from a lineage of women who followed the lead of the greatest of men.

Great men and great women exist even today. However, Feminism is debilitating the prospect of men achieving true greatness, as it is for women. 

Our biological differences

Allah is Al-Hakim, the most wise, and in his infinite wisdom, he chose men to be leaders of the house and not women. A part of the wisdom of this could be due to the fact that a woman’s body goes through many changes in comparison to a man’s throughout the course of a year. For instance, women are impregnated, give birth, have monthly cycles, go through the menopause, and some experience post-natal depression. This inevitably impacts her hormones. Therefore, many wise women try not to be involved in any decision-making processes while on their monthly cycle (for instance), as they are cognizant of how hormonal they can be during this time. As women, we often cry at the most ridiculous of things that we wouldn’t ordinarily cry at (all because we are on our monthly cycle), i.e., when Mufasa dies in The Lion King.

Unlike the ‘Always’ advertisements where a woman is climbing Mount Everest whilst on her monthly cycle, many women feel the need to be sprawled out on the couch with a hot water bottle—the monthly cycle fog in the brain is inexplicable. As we see, women are not always in positions to make the most pragmatic and thoughtful decisions.

Similarly, when the first strike of a calamity hits a woman and she is initially immersed in her emotions, it is often the man of the house who provides her with practical and rational solutions, as men are “fixers” and “do-ers”. Men were designed to be logical thinkers. And if it were the full-time responsibility of all women to consistently lead all members of the house, Gordan Bennett, we would all be at loggerheads and in big trouble!

As conducted by a study from Stanford University (2017), the exploration of how men’s and women’s brains are different and the physiological differences of a man’s brain in comparison to a woman’s brain illustrate how a man’s brain is bigger, and the amygdala is associated with the experiencing of emotions and the recollection of such experiences.

An obedient Muslim woman will often consult the man of the house, her husband, about important decisions that need to be made because Allah ordained this and because women are often in need of the consultation of a more rational and pragmatic perspective. In an age of Feminism, this is somewhat strange to the colonised mind but perhaps more rewarding as it goes against the status quo (Allah hu Alim).  

Are women unable to make sound decisions?

To reiterate, this isn’t to say that women are handicapped from making decisions or contributing to the cause of Islam, neither are we always emotional wrecks. The actions of the fierce and formidable female warrior, Khawla bint al-Azwar (who successfully fought the toughest army of Romans and assisted in conquering Le Vant) makes for a hugely compelling case to the contrary. We come from a lineage of women such as Fatima al Fihri who created the first University. These were amazing women who made an impact.

The role of a woman in the family home

Nonetheless, the role of a Muslimah in the house is honoured by Allah and is heterogeneous, as she makes multifarious contributions. Contributions that are imperative to the functionality of society and have reverberated to the mundane and minutia tasks of our everyday lives and to the vital shaping of the characters of our children. “Holding the fort” and the profusion of operational hats that have been entrusted upon a woman when a man leaves for work, for instance, or goes away for trade, business, or Dawah purposes, is a responsibility that cannot be taken lightly and is the woman’s turn at demonstrating ultimate leadership in the household. Nurturing children and organising the house are her domains of leadership. 

The Prophetic Model

The Prophet Mohammed (saw) valued the opinions of his wives and would often consult them for advice regarding important matters, such as Umm Salama, who advised him (saw) to go in front of the companions with a shaved head in a bid to be imitated.

On the other hand, despite the leadership role being an essential pillar in forging the catenation between man and woman, there are, of course, some Muslim men who may abuse this power and turn to domestic violence. For instance, according to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18, 28% of women aged 15-49, had experienced intimate partner violence in 2017-2018. This, of course, does not, in any way, shape, or form, align with the Islamic paradigm. Being abused is not tantamount to being obedient in Islam. 

Similarly, if, for instance, the man of the house asks a woman to stop observing the hijab, this is not what Allah ordained, and a Muslimah submits herself to the will of Allah alone, not man-made laws that do not coincide with Islam. This, in effect, would be a detriment to her. A case like this would not warrant blind obedience.