Jan. 9, 2007

The president of the largest Islamic organization on the continent discussed the spirituality of women in the Muslim world during a speech Tuesday at Presbyterian College.

Dr. Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America and professor of Islamic studies and Christian-Muslim relations at Hartford Seminary, presented "Discovering (Not Uncovering) the Spirituality of Muslim Women" as part of the "Understanding Islam" series sponsored by the college's Southeastern Center for Intercultural Studies.

Mattson, who also is director of the Islamic chaplaincy program at Hartford's McDonald Center for Islamic Studies, said one of the preconceptions about Muslim women centers of the image of the "veiled woman" who is perceived as oppressed, suppressed, mysterious, and exotic. Relying on those images as much of the western world does, she said, makes it difficult for the two cultures to understand each other.

"When you encounter Muslims, are you able to do so on their own terms or are there certain ideas or associations that you have with these images through t.v., through movies, or through literature that color the impressions that you have of Muslims?" she said.

Muslim women, in particular, are subject to those impressions, said Mattson.

"Think about all of the metaphorical references we make to the veil," she said. "I tell you, if I see one more title of an article or book that has something like 'Behind the Veil,' or 'Beyond the Veil,' or 'Under the Veil,' I think I'm going to scream."

Two things are problematic about those associations, she said. On the one hand, she argued, the obsession with the veil is voyeuristic and linked with an exotic stereotype. The other problem, said Mattson, is that it promotes the idea that the veil is secretive and even hypocritical.

"Unfortunately, what happens in these paradigms is that they try to make Muslims seem so different and so foreign from our experience that we don't see similarities," she said.

Businessmen in western culture, for example, wear business suits outdoors even when it is hot outside because what they wear projects a certain professional image, she said. The same holds true of Muslim women who wear a veil.

"In a public setting, Muslim women dress more modestly," she said. "For many Muslim women, that includes wearing a head scarf or some kind of covering over her head that she will not wear in her home because that's a different setting and a different environment. So, it's not this very strange, bizarre, incomprehensible difference – it's just a different idea of appropriate dress for different settings."

To better understand Muslim women on their own terms, said Mattson, it is necessary to consider the first source – the Koran. As much an oral book as a text, she explained that the Koran has historically been transmitted through recitation. Even though most Muslims are not Arabic, many of them have memorized the Koran in Arabic for recitation and rely on a translation in their native tongues for teaching. Historically, women were also spiritual leaders and teachers.

More importantly, women have always held a place as equals to men in the Koran and in the eyes of God, said Mattson. Reciting in Arabic a passage about the expectations of all Muslims, she translated it to demonstrate the parallel obligations of both men and women. The passage, she said, was revealed to Muhammad in response to a question from a woman living in the patriarchal culture of 7th Century Arabia.

"It was in response to her question that this verse was revealed – emphasizing very clearly that women are equal to men in front of God and their responsibilities and also in their value and dignity in the eyes of God," said Mattson. "That's important."

Muslim theologians, she said, believe that all people are born with an intuitive sense that God is fair and just – an intuition that has sustained Muslim women even when their cultures do not. Throughout the pre-modern world, women have not shared the same opportunities as men and only as modern medicine has freed women from the dangers of childbirth have they been liberated to live extraordinary lives.

While gender equality is assured in the Koran, said Mattson, Islam has spread into areas where the cultures are contrary or in violation of Islamic law and it has been difficult for women to overcome some long-held traditions. On the other hand, she noted, globalization has benefited Muslim women by providing new resources to read the Koran in their own languages.