Human beings are not the only living beings who thrive in a sense of communal belonging. Its this very basic need to belong that begets relationships and society for us. The very first human communities can be traced to the earliest civilisations.
Toys, jewellery and handicrafts from Sumerian, Indus and Egyptian civilisations all are a physical representation of that sense of community and belonging. Women pulling water, animals pulling carts, water flowing and birds flying. To each image belongs a story, a moment, a feeling etched in history.
To own and belong is a human need like food, water and health. Human beings have for long fought and made peace only for this need. To own a piece of land or to belong to one. To own wealth or to belong amongst the wealthy. To own another or to belong to another.
It is this very capacity of a basic human need in overpowering human will to an extent that it becomes a drive that Allah swt commands us to practice 'adl'. A practice of human will in restrain such that it keeps every human need in its rightful place.
Allah subhana wa Allah encourages mankind to give and sacrifice in the holy Quran. Charity and 'ihsan' make 'adl' practical and easy.
The essence of the communal spirit in Islam lies not in its capacity to 'hold together' or enforce conformity but in its ability to make 'staying together' a preferred choice for all and to create harmony within diversity. This offer is a peacefully convincing offer towards the universals of 'Adl", "Maroof" and "Rahma"(Ahmad,2019) . An offer to an alternative seeking a chance.
Community is a place of peace and growth for the Muslim. Peace requires a spirit of solidarity and prioritisation of welfare for all while growth requires a tolerant and just space for diversity. It is the welfare and the tolerant space that still needs to be explored and addressed from a different lens now.
Even democratic countries like the UK, USA, Newzeland and Canada report intolerant cases of violence caused by racial, ethnic and religious discrimination.
What then will be a just position or tolerance when people die of famine in one part of the world because the other part is busy bombing them to establish peace and tolerance. It might have made some sense to a sane person some centuries ago that the earth is flat but how in the world can bombing and killing generate good will, community and tolerance?
It doesn't make any sense!
It doesnt make sense yet sense is a luxury now. To be sold when bought and to be treasured unless sought.
It is at such a juncture that an emerging new femininity can play a significant role at the heart of the global community. A daring step away from the drive to destroy towards a will to build anew.
This drive to control, own and belong is an emotional drive in its nature thus to fuel emotions is to fuel these needs into drives. Narratives, media, wars virtual and real all consequent of fuelled emotions. Justice and sense long forsaken.
The feminine half of the world is experiencing a resilient rebirth with an emotional stability unmatched by its other half. This change is not to be ignored anymore. Women all over the globe are challenging 'cultural prescriptions' of 'autonomy' and 'agency'. Whats most intriguing for me as a Pakistani is that the men and women benefiting most from the liberal ideals of 'autonomy' and 'agency' in the western world are the non-bourgeoise, non-western men and women (Hassmann, 2011) including staunch practicing Muslims.
Interestingly the same ideals of 'autonomy' and 'agency' ring a different bell in the local landscape. A landscape supposedly ideal for practicing Muslims according to the constitution. What then stops a woman from practicing agency and autonomy in the land of the pure and free.
Apparently nothing.
Agency and autonomy are intrinsic values of an Islamic community but they arise not from an enslaved mind or heart. A heart and mind which hasn't yet surrendered to its creator cannot practice agency as that requires an 'autonomy' of the being.
To put it simply. One doesnt give because something in return is required. One doesnt do the right thing only when its easy. One doesnt change what is right and what's wrong according to his/her circumstances. Such a person who has grounded him or herself in the permanent principles or universals of Islam is the one finally able to practice agency as an autonomous being.
It isnt a puzzle that we are unable to practice such agency as a nation. The principles that we enshrine like a sacred scroll are something we dont adhere to.
Islam has much to offer to the global community. The Muslim woman is at the heart of the communal spirit. Her resilience is a promise of a new beginning and a better end.
Saima Sher Fazal
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