Mullah Nasr od-Din and Women's Emancipation: Two Episodes

2016

The phrase quoted in the title of this article comes from a narrative saying of the Prophet (from the Hadith). One of the oldest SADUM 1 theologians, Yusupkhon Shakirov (d. 1996), used it in an article with the symbolic title "Problems of Women's Equality and Their Resolution" (1977). Shakirov tried to prove the "natural equality" of women in Islam. In addition to traditional sources-the Qur'an and Hadith-he used works of the Egyptian reformer Qassim Amin ("Al-mara' Fi-l-Islam/ ") 2 and some writings of Muhammad Abduh (see more details about Shakirov's article below). Besides Shakirov's article, I consider various documents and discussion publications sincethe period of 1917-1918, which initiated vast discourse on various trends by the theologians (reformers and conservatives) relating to the "female issue." For this article, I used additional sources, e.g., a number of SADUM fatwas and "clarifications" (from 1946 to 1991) focused on the interrelations between males and females in family and social life. Even more SADUM fatwas are dedicated to the criticism of rituals practiced mainly by women (e.g., pilgrimages or ziyarat to the graves of the holy people and rituals on the Prophet's birthdays). Analysis of the articles in the famous SADUM journal Muslims of the Soviet East (published from 1968 to 1991, in Uzbek, Russian, Arabic, Persian, and French) showed that the journal had not practically discussed the "feminine topic" up to 1990. By then, the issue of "returning the Soviet woman to Islam" had been initiated by new Mufti Muhammad-Sadik Muhammad-Yusuf (d. March 10, 2015; mufti 1989 to November 12, 1994). The new journal of the Spiritual Board Maworounnahr musulmonlari (Mawara' an-nahr Muslims) published a number of articles in which local theologians tried to avenge years of coercion and silence on the "true look of the Muslim woman." I also treat some publications by Shaikh Muhammad-Sadik, in which he discussed, for instance, the Muslim woman's norms of behavior and principles of interrelations with her husband and family. e Russian Revolution and the Gender Issue Major discussion of gender issues among local clerics began right after the Russian Revolution in October 1917. Discussions on the social or family status of a woman and her new dress code in the Muslim environment of the former Russian Empire were determined by two factors: First, as is well known, the Bolshevik power initiated a number of decrees including those concerning 1 Spiritual Board of Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, founded in 1943. See [Babadjanov 2001]. 2 See the English translation of his work [Amin 2000].

My dear husband, Dr. Mehmet Ali Doğan, has been a true friend, and has offered his support in countless ways. During the summers of 2015 and 2016, which were the most intense periods of my writing, he helped me obtain much-needed books from the Harvard and Duke University libraries, in addition to taking care of our beloved son, Galip. His presence has always comforted me. I cannot begin to express my gratitude and love to my parents, my parents-in-law, and my sisters and brother, for their unconditional support and encouragement. I would also like to dedicate this work in loving memory to my dear father-in-law, Kazım Naci Doğan, a keen writer and journalist, and an idealistic, honest person, whom we lost two days before my dissertation defense. We miss him immensely.

2008

The Muslim World, 1988

NiTam al-Mulk, Siyur ul-Mulrjk or Siyisur-ndrnu, ed. Hubert Darke [Persian Text Series, #8] 1975), p. 12. (Tehran, 1962), p. 226. ' N i g h al-Mulk, Siyur a/-MulGk, p. 226.

The dissertation of Emine Hoşoğlu Doğan has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: