Abstract
This article investigates Ayatollah Murtaḍā Muṭahharī’s approach to the right of women to issue fatwas. Muṭahharī (1919–1979) is one of the foremost thinkers of contemporary Iran who is known as ‘the ideologue of the Islamic Revolution’ and ‘an architect of modern Islamic theology’. What distinguishes Muṭahharī from other traditional jurists is his awareness of modern developments and his dynamic methodology in jurisprudence. He was not only a clergyman but also a modern intellectual. The significant contribution of Muṭahharī’s work partly lies in his active engagement with the challenges Muslims faced in the modern world. Muṭahharī, as a traditional reformer, strongly believed that Islamic thought on women’s issues needed to be revived. He changed the traditional style of discussion about women’s rights from specialized and technical jurisprudential debate within the context of traditional Shīʿa-Islamic seminaries to a rational argument. He supported women’s right of issuing fatwas, which did not agree with the common fatwas of his time (pre-revolutionary Iran). In fact, Muṭahharī approved of women’s right to issue fatwas when this was (and still is) the exclusive right of men. This study reveals that by adopting Muṭahharī’s approach, different understandings of female leadership in religion could be developed.
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Notes
Shīʿa Islam is one of the two major branches of Islam. Shīʿa Muslims believe that prophet Muḥammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Prophet’s cousin and son in law) as his successor and Imām (spiritual and political leader) after him, most notably at the event of Ghadīr Khum. ʿAlī’s authority is maintained through his eleven descendants. Twelve Shīʿa hold that Imām Mahdī is the final Imām who is the ultimate savior of humankind and will emerge with Jesus in order to bring peace and justice to the world.
To know more about women’s right of issuing fatwas, see also Künkler, M., & Stewart (2020), Female Religious Authority in Shi’i Islam: Past and Present. Edinburgh University Press and Bauer, K., (2010), “Debates on Women’ Status as Judges and Witnesses in Post-Formative Islamic Law”. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1301, 1-21.
Such as the verse 2:228 ‘…And women have such honourable rights as obligations. But their men have a degree (al-darajah) over them’ and verse 4:34 ‘Men are the managers [in charge of the affairs of women- qawwāmūn] of the affairs of women for that God has preferred in bounty one of them over another, and for that they have expended of their property’
See also Sayf Māzandarānī, ʿ. A., (2006), Dalīl-i Taḥrīr al-Vasīlah, 3. Muʾassisi-yi Nashr wa Tanẓīm-i Ᾱthār-I Imām Khomeini 176.
This is Tihrānī’s interpretation of verse 4:34.
See also Rahman, F., (2009), Major Themes of the Qur’an, 2nd ed. / with a new foreword by Ebrahim Moosa. ed., Vol. University of Chicago Press. 33.
In this regard, the Qur’an states, ‘O mankind We have created you male and female, and appointed you races and tribe, that you may know one another. Surely the noblest among you in the sight of God is the most God-fearing of you. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware’ (49:13).
In this regard, see also Muṭahharī, M., (1998), Majmuʿih ʾᾹthār (Collection of Works), 22. Ṣadrā. 630.
See also Shams al-Dīn, M. M., (1995), Ahlīyyat al-Marʾah Li-Tawallā al-Sulṭah. Al-Muʾasisih al- Dulīyah Li-Dīrāsat wa al-Nashr. 68, Faḍlullāh, S. M. Ḥ., (1998), Tafsir Min Waḥy al-Qur’an, 4. Dar al-Milak Li-Tabaʿa wa al-Nashr. 294, Subhānī, J., (1997), Niẓām al-Qaḍā wa al-Shahādah fi Sharīʿat al-Islamīyah al-gharāʾ, 1. Muʾasisih-yi Imām Ṣādiq. 91.
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Larijani, S. Muṭahharī’s approach to the right of women to issue fatwas. Cont Islam 18, 115–131 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-023-00541-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-023-00541-w