Writing for the European Council of Fatwa and Research (ECFR), a Muslim Brotherhood-linked organization headed by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Dr. ‘Ali Muhiy al-Din al-Qarah Daghi in his 2006 treatise “Al-mar’a wal-musharika al-siyasia wal-dimuqratia” (Women and Political and Democratic Participation) lists six political rights that women may enjoy under Islam (see pp. 45-47). Most of these are your basic run-of-the-mill stuff: the right to vote, to run for office (except for head of state), participate in political demonstrations, participate in the police and security forces (with some conditions), and participate in forming unions. But what really stood out to me was that the shaykh also listed as one of these rights, the right to participate not only in defensive jihad, but in offensive jihad as well:
(Scholars) unanimously agree on (the right of women) to participate in defensive jihad, i.e. when there’s an infidel occupation of a Muslim country. This includes killing and so forth, and everything which enables it. (Women may) also participate in offensive jihad, commensurate with their disposition.
Wait a second, what does he mean by “killing and so forth”? I thought jihad was an inner spiritual struggle?! Must be some sort of Islamophobe. In any case, next the shaykh invokes an example of a great jihadi woman from the time of Muhammad:
Safiya, the mother of the faithful (may Allah be pleased with her), participated in jihad when she killed a Jew at the Battle of the Trench.
I can’t help but see the irony in the shaykh citing the story of Safiya killing a Jew as a good example of a jihadi woman. After all, it was through the killing of a Jew, actually many Jews, that she and Muhammad were first brought together, though in a drastically different context, as Staring at the View explains in his article Muslims and Muhammad and Khaybar:
A young man named Kinana was rumored to have some of the treasure that the Beni Nadir tribe had managed to take from Medina. Muhammad ordered Kinana to be tortured by lighting a fire on his chest to reveal where the treasure was located, and then had him beheaded. […] The murdered Kinana had a beautiful 17-year old bride named Safiya. Her father and brother had both been beheaded by Muhammad in Medina during the slaughter of the Beni Qurayza. Upon Kinana’s death, Safiya was brought to Muhammad. Although another Muslim had first claimed her, Muhammad wanted her for himself and traded the other man two women for her. Muhammad then took Safiya to his tent, and had sex with her that night.
While we mull over that disturbing little bit of Islamic history, let’s return to the shaykh’s discussion on jihad for women:
Also the women who were companions (of the Prophet) participated in the jihad by treating the wounded and bringing water and such. Imam al-Bukhari even compiled a special section named “Women’s Raids and Fighting,” in which he related a few sayings (of the Prophet), including one in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) was on a raid with Umm-Salim and other women from among the Ansar. During the raid, the women drew water and took care of the wounded. In fact, in five other sections of al-Bukhari’s Sahih, he mentioned the jihad of women, as well as the raid of the women in the sea, the women carrying waterskins to the men in the raid, and women treating and bringing back the wounded in the raid.
Muslim narrated in his chain: “Umm-Salim took a dagger in the Battle of Hunayn, and had it with her… The Messenger (peace be upon him) asked her about it, saying: “What is this dagger?” She said: “I took it, and if one of the polytheists comes near me, I will cut open his belly.” This made the Messenger (peace be upon him) laugh…” In other words, he approved of her doing this and encouraged it.
(Compare this to the reaction of Jesus when one of his disciples picked up a dagger.)
What struck me most about this frank discussion on jihad from the Muslim Brotherhood in Arabic, is how different it is from how Brotherhood affiliates tend to speak about jihad in English. Contrast this with what was written about jihad in a Q&A section of a pamphlet produced by the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in 2009:
Q: What is Jihad?
A: “Jihad” does not mean “holy war.” Literally, jihad means to “struggle,” strive and exert effort. It is a central and broad Islamic concept that includes struggle against evil inclinations within oneself, struggle to improve the quality of life in society, struggle in the battlefield for self-defense (e.g., – having a standing army for national defense), or fighting against tyranny or oppression.
Funny, but in this discussion from the ECFR on jihad, I didn’t see anything about a “struggle against evil inclinations” or to “improve the quality of life in society.” In fact, it was all about war and killing. Will CAIR come out now and call the ECFR a bunch of Islamophobes? After all, one of CAIR’s criteria for Islamophobia is listed as “believ[ing] mainstream Islam encourages violence.”
Or could it be that both CAIR and the ECFR are just two players on the same team with different roles, who recognize that “there is a different discussion for each situation“?
Based on post originally published on Translating Jihad