The misogyny of the Brotherhood

Cairo – Questions related to women’s issues are an important and significant theme in the Fatwa Section of Al-Dawah (The Call) Magazine, as they exceed in number all other Fatwas related to Copts, politics, and art. 

The misogyny of the Brotherhood is vividly reflected in another fatwa in issue No. 39, released in August 1979.  A Muslim from Germany asks: “I want to know the authenticity of the following Hadith[1] that I came across and its significance.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) once said: “There are two types of people who will be punished in Hell and whom I have not seen: men having whips like the tails of cows and they will be beating people with them, and, women who will be dressed but appear to be naked, inviting to evil; and they themselves will be inclined to it. Their heads will appear like the humps of the Bactrian camel inclined to one side. They will not enter Jannah and they will not smell its fragrance which is perceptible from such and such a distance.”

The Brotherhood Mufti responds to the second part of the question as follows:

The second part of the Hadith tells us about a class of women described as ‘scantily dressed women’ because they have no clothes to cover the charms of their bodies. They are showing the charms of their body by going naked; and this has become a tradition of most women’s clothes of our time. The Hadith refers to the hairstyle made by the hairdresser nowadays as well as the wigs artistically worn by women. All this nudity, implicit or explicit, is meant to seduce and arouse lusts: “The Messenger of Allah [peace be upon him] said: “Any woman who puts on perfume then passes by people so that they can smell her fragrance then she is an adulteress.”

The Hadith warned us from falling into decadence, because it is the most evil that had befallen any previous nation.

The Messenger of Allah [peace be upon him] warned us of these types and told us that they are expelled from the mercy of God because they are enemies of God and His Messenger and all of humanity. It is the duty of every Muslim to ingratiate oneself with firm faith, to positively influence his home and his environment, to warn against imitation and imitators, and to be patient with others with truth and patience. Moreover, every Muslim has to obey the command of God and His Messenger. Every female Muslim should beware of these descriptions mentioned by the hadith in order to smell the fragrance of Paradise and be one of its dwellers; otherwise the matter is no less than dangerous. “And fear the day when you shall be made to return to Allah; then shall every soul be paid in full what it has earned; and they shall not be wronged.” [2]

Critique:

The Hadith attributed to the Prophet, and the phraseology used in the explanation intends women in the modern age and analysis goes beyond the distant past to contemporary reality, which is exampled in the hairdresser, the wig, nudity and use of perfume. These examples are all signs of corruption, degeneration and decadence in the society!  The real problem is that the Brotherhood distills the perplexing problems of reality into moral corruption alone, then confines this corruption to women without men, and then translates female corruption into some formal appearances, whose disappearance cannot be a successful treatment for those who are unable to marry and suffer from sexual deprivation, and yearn for making a stable family.

The question that poses itself here is: Does the Brotherhood see that the economic and political factors are far greater than what they think? Does the Brotherhood have a coherent political, economic and social program that may contribute to solving such aggravated problems?

Their minor program, vented on blithe preaching and proselytization, pushes them to insist on the dangers of individual behavior, which may be wrongful practices that deserve condemnation and rejection. Such practices are a reflection of the general crisis and are not its root causes.

What else can be learned or deduced from the general Brotherhood’s prejudiced misogynist teachings on women and their position in society?

If the woman is the exponent of corruption and evil in this world, and will be subject to the gravest torment in the world to come, the talk about her right to hold high positions in the state, and even her right to work without considering its seriousness and importance, requires no further discussion. Then we are done with issue; a woman may not be equal to man or vie with him in all walks of life.

Dr. Abdel Rehim Ali, an Egyptian Journalist and Member of Parliament, is an expert on Islamist Movements and political Islam. Ali is a member of Egypt’s Press Syndicate, head of the Arab Center for Journalism in Egypt and chairperson & Editor-in-Chief of Al-Bawaba Newspaper and Portal. He is also an Egyptian MP and head of the Arab Center for Research and Studies (ACRS) in Cairo and Paris.

[1]. Hadith, Arabic Ḥadīth (“News” or “Story”), is record of the traditions or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, revered and received as a major source of religious law and moral guidance, second only to the authority of the Qurʾān. (Translator)

[2] Issue No. 39 of Al-Dawah magazine, released in August 1979.