Al Qaradawi, Tantawi and the Mufti on Women at The Arabist

Al Qaradawi, Tantawi and the Mufti on Women

Al Misry Al Yom reported last Sunday that the Sheikh of Al Azhar, Muhammad Sayid Tantawi, issued a fatwa declaring that a woman could be president of Egypt, but could not become a sheikh at Al Azhar. According to the article the fatwa was a response to Nawal Al Saadawi’s announcement that she would be a candidate for the 2005 presidential elections in Egypt:

Tantawi told Al Masry Al Yom following the announcement that Dr. Nawal Al Saadawi had declared her candidacy in the upcoming presidential elections: It is the right of a woman to become president of any state in the world, as long as that is compatible with her special nature, because the Islamic Sharia does not deny the woman the right to hold any specific positions or employment. It only stipulates that the work must be appropriate to her nature.

The following day, last Monday, Al Masry Al Yom reported that Ali Gomaa, the Mufti of Egypt, and Yussuf Al Qaradawi had rejected Tantawi’s fatwa. Here is a translation of their response as reported by Al Masry Al Yom:

Gomaa said: Reality reflects the ability of the man to be president of the state effectively, and to make difficult decisions.

Qaradawi said: It is not acceptable for a woman to be president of the state at all, because her nature does not allow her to carry out the tasks of the presidency, or to adminster the affairs of the country, or to oversee the needs of the people. A woman’s emotions overcome her mind, and this is why her testimony in Islam is only half that of a man’s testimony, as evident in the saying of the prophet: “If there are not two men available, then bring one man and two women.”

Qaradawi added: The pain and the physical tiring that a woman suffers from during her monthly period prevent her from carrying out her duties and following the affairs of her subjects.

To stress his opinion rejecting Tantawi’s fatwa Qaradawi cited the prophet as saying: “A people will not succeed if their leader is a woman.”

Gomaa and Qaradawi agreed on rejecting the candidacy of Dr. Nawal Al Saadawi, and indicated that if it was okay for a woman to be presdient, it wouldn’t be Nawal Saadawi.

Defending these people as moderates is a disservice to Islam. When people who have no exposure to Islam except what they read in the Western media see people like Qaradawi repeatedly deemed a moderate, they conclude that the backward ideas mentioned above are really what Islam is about. Of course Qaradawi does not deserve to be in the same category as a Zarqawi or a Zawahiri, but I cannot bring myself to consider him a moderate.

I also want to respond to Tantawi’s fatwa. He said that it is acceptable for a woman to be the president, but not a sheikh at Al Azhar. In other words, a woman can be the political leader of Muslims, but cannot be their spiritual leader. But from it’s earliest days Islam endowed its political leader with spiritual authority. The political leader and the spiritual leader were one and the same. The early caliphs had both temporal authority and spiritual authority.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

Published by Charles Levinson December 23rd, 2004
Categories: Egypt, Religion.

28 Responses to “Al Qaradawi, Tantawi and the Mufti on Women”

Feed for this Entry

1 Al Gershawy Dec 24th, 2004 at 2:47 am

Don’t most major religions (eg. Catholicism, Orthodox Judaism) prohibit women from becoming spiritual leaders? Tantawi sounds very reasonable.
2 Hellme Dec 24th, 2004 at 3:22 am

I don’t agree with the ‘fatwa’ that prevents women from being president. I wouldn’t vote for her, but thats my remit, and its because I don’t want HER as president. But women CAN be presidents because the political structure of a state is very different to what it was 1400 years ago where there was one political leader surrounded by advisors. Today, there is an independent judiciary, parliment and plenty of other feedback mechanisms that would protect from an over-emotional president (be male or female).

Contrived tripe, outdated, and defacing to the image of that ‘moderate’ Islam as Charles has pointed out.
3 shual Dec 24th, 2004 at 12:59 pm

“different to what it was 1400 years ago”

http://www.jannah.org/sisters/sislead.html

The example “management of the suq of Medina” is a political position of a woman.

Egypt can be run by a sister, if the sister is properly observing the teachings of Islam.
4 thabit Dec 25th, 2004 at 1:26 pm

“The early caliphs had both temporal authority and spiritual authority.”

Although Ayesha (ra) was a leading legal authority in early times. Many male scholars, whether traditonists or jurists, and who now live in modern Muslim memory as greats, had female teachers. It is a little simplistic to say “the caliphs had both temporal and spiritual authority”.

As for the wider implications: separation or a distinction between the role of temporal (”secular”) and spiritual (”religious”) authorities is a very old feature of classical Sunni political theory (if we can it that).

assalaamu `alaykum
5 Ckrisz Dec 29th, 2004 at 8:44 pm

But surely the President of Egypt isn’t imbued with spiritual authority?

Let’s also not forget that the office of the caliphate and the degree to which it possesses both spiritual and temporal authority has been the subject of major wars and splits in the Muslim community historically. At the least the subject is still very wide open for debate.
6 mujahed Jan 2nd, 2005 at 9:30 pm

women can neither be a spiritual nor a political leader. this ia Allah’s wish and wisdom and it’s no use arguing about that, FULL STOP
7 mujahed Jan 2nd, 2005 at 9:31 pm

women can neither be a spiritual nor a political leader. this ia Allah’s wish and wisdom and it’s no use arguing about that, FULL STOP
8 Charles Levinson Jan 3rd, 2005 at 12:22 am

So Mujahed… you’re saying the Sheikh of Al Azhar doesn’t know Allah’s wish? Or are you admitting that there are differences of opinion in the interpretation of religion, as opposed to absolute right and absolute wrong? In which case, why don’t you replace that “FULL STOP” with “in my opinion?”