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Eight Questions Answered - Women Leading the Prayers
Women Leading the Prayers
Why do women sometimes lead the prayers in jama`at-khanah, while there is no such precedent in the shari`at?
- Islam is the right path. It has been ordained to lead towards God. When, as according to this example, true religion is likened to a path, then it also has stations which are called shari`at, tariqat (Sufic path), haqiqat (truth) and ma`rifat (gnosis or the recognition of God). Just as Sufism is a clear proof of development within Islam from one station to the next, so are the manners and rites of the jama`at-khanah a living example of following and spiritually advancing along the same straight path of Islam, and progressing to a higher station. And it is quite clear that in Sufism there are thousands of things which do not exist in shari`at, for how can it be possible for such things to be in shari`at while they pertain to tariqat? Likewise, the things pertaining to jama`at-khanah, i.e. the manners and rites therein belong to haqiqat and to judge them on a criterion other than of haqiqat is nothing but a proof of oversight and ignorance.
- Furthermore, if on the level or stage of shari`at a woman cannot lead men in shar`i namaz (ritual prayer according to shari`at, then there is no other apparent reason for this except that this prohibition has a ta'wil (esoteric interpretation or de-allegorization). Contrary to this, whatever `ibadat-u bandagi (devotional prayers) is performed in the jama`at-khanah has no ta'wil; in fact, it is itself a ta'wil. Therefore in jama`at-khanah a woman may lead the prayers.
If the question is then asked what the ta'wil is of not allowing women to lead shar`i namaz, then the answer is that in religion the Prophet is in the position of a man and all the individuals within the entire community are in the position of a woman. Likewise, the Imam (may peace of God be upon him) is in the position of a man and all his followers are in the position of a woman, and similarly, the teacher is like a man and the student is like a woman. Thus according to shari`at if a woman leads men in shar`i namaz then according to ta'wil it implies that (God forbidding) the Prophet should leave his position and become a follower and the community should take the position of the Prophet and lead him; or, that the Imam should become a follower and the followers should become the Imam, and that the teacher should become the student and vice- versa. So this ta'wil shows how the fact of a woman leading the men in shar`i namaz indicates an impossible matter, i.e. that the Prophet, playing the role of a man, should assume the role of a woman, which is the community; and for this reason women are not allowed to lead men in shar`i namaz only on the level of shari`at. - Islam, in fact, comprises of the teachings and instructions of both the Qur'an and the teacher of the Qur'an, and to travel along the different stages of these teachings and instruction means to walk on the straight path (sirat-i mustaqim), and to advance from one station to the next station. In the same context, we can also say that Islam, with respect to its stages of knowledge and practice, is like a university which has various progressive degrees of learning. Now it is clear from this example that just as each of the various university degrees has its own criteria, similarly for all these different degrees of knowledge and practice in Islam there are ordained different criteria. Thus we say that to judge Isma`ili rites on a criterion other than the Isma`ili criterion is not logical.
- If Islam is the straight path, then one has to accept that Muslim sects or groups are like the travelers who are spread on the various stations of the path, on which some travelers are following the others. Further, if the true religion, as the Qur'an says, is the rope of God, the Most High, and this rope is between God and His servants, then it also implies that the servants are each holding the rope in various ascending degrees, one behind the other. Further still, where ascension towards the heights of gnosis of God (according to 52:3,4) is compared with a staircase, there it can be inferred likewise that the people of different religions are each on different stairs. Just as the manifest religion (din-i mubin), i.e. Islam, can be likened to a university, where the students of the university are in different grades similarly the believers in Islam with respect to knowledge and practice (`ilm-u `amal) can be seen to be in different stages. The religion of Nature (i.e. Islam) has been compared with human creation and the different stages of life, such as the child in mother's womb, the new-born, the sucking-babe, the tyro, youth, the middle-aged, and the old, and similarly there are different stages in religion. This example shows that Islam is the religion of Nature and it has to reach to its perfection just as a human-being gradually reaches to perfection. In short, the teachings of Islam are in degrees and as such its instructions are also in gradual form. Thus the objection of one against the other is nothing but ignorance of the stages of the Islamic teachings.
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