A Good "Innovation"?
// February 28th, 2007 // 9 Comments » // Blog
Last night, one of the most popular articles on the BBC News website was about Islam’s pioneering women priests, also known as, The Mourchidat. My curiosity was mainly fuelled by the word “priest” rather than the word “women”, as Islam doesn’t have an organized clergy, as such, although we do have scholars and community leaders, who are often referred to as “imams”:
A radical innovation in the Islamic world has arisen in Morocco – women preachers. The Mourchidat, as they are known, are the first women ever in any Muslim country that can perform the functions of a male Imam in a mosque, except lead the prayers.
Reading the article, it seems to me that this “innovation” is no such thing. It is in fact, a revival of an old practice that has sadly been lost in the Muslim world. It makes absolute sense that a woman should be educated in Islam so that she could offer support and advice to her community, especially fellow women, who may be too shy, or even scared, to approach the males imams.
I feel that the term “priest” has been used simply to analogize the situation with that of the Anglican Church, who went through a battle and a half, before finally allowing women priests. I don’t have an opinion on whether Anglican women priests are a “good” or “bad” thing; that’s for the Anglicans to decide, obviously. However, as I said before, there really isn’t such a thing as an ordained priesthood in Islam; rather, any individual who has been schooled in Islam, and has a level-head, and good character, is suitable for the job of Imam. In fact, I am sure many Muslim women fulfill this role in an unofficial capacity every day.
The Mourchidat are still not allowed to lead the salaat (congregational prayer), which is a wise decision IMO, only because it is such a controversial topic at present, that going so far would have caused a real uprising. To be honest, I don’t really see the point in the controversy; there is no real power, privilege or extra reward associated with being the person nominated to lead the prayer. You don’t even have to be an official imam; you just need to know how to pray, have memorized parts of the Qur’an, and have good recitation skills – so why rock the boat?
I suppose the biggest “controversy” about the Mourchidat programme is that it has been initiated and backed by the Moroccan government. I don’t know much about Moroccan politics, but looking at the general state of Muslim politics, I can understand why there is such mistrust. Governments rarely meddle in religious affairs, except for their own selfish purpose. I just hope this time the effects of such meddling will actually be beneficial for the Moroccan people, as well as their rulers.
Now, wouldn’t that be a refreshingly good innovation?
