Reply to Muslim women speak out against the hijab as an element of political Islam

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Is Asra Nomani's name continually brought up because her lifestyle is considered unsavory? What about her co-author Hala Arafa?

It's odd that you invoke Leila Ahmed as an authority for your view when the article cites her as one of the Muslim scholars supporting the interpretation they set forth of the particular Quranic verse in question.

Leila Ahmed is a serious academic on Islam and its history.  That is way more than can be said for any of the various so-called scholars whose views on Islam are disseminated on the internet telling women they must wear the hijab or face damnation.

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There are hundreds of Islamic scholars out there who can match Leila Ahmed degree for degree, and view covering as necessary. Plus, I really don't think you are qualified to sort the serious from the un-serious. You are armed with nothing but your ardent wish of "how things ought to be" and it just isn't a good yardstick for measuring pedigrees in Islamic scholarship.  Just because someone says things you don't like doesn't make them unqualified. [/quote]

But it was you, or a PP of your views, who trotted out Leila Ahmed as supporting the view that the Quran requires the hijab.  That is not her view based on her reading of the texts, and she is far from alone.  But the PP somehow felt her credentials were impressive enough to cite her in defense of the view that the hijab is required.

Most of what passes for Islamic scholarship is a joke and is mired in mind boggling literal mindedness that has never experienced critical thinking.  This is particularly true in the Middle East where the very bottom of matriculants to universities enter the school of religion because their grades are so low none of the other schools can accept them.  They best and brightest go into medicine and engineering; the worst and dimmest go into religion.  If it weren't so pathetic, it would be laughable that people look to these so-called scholars for a deeper understanding of their religion.

The situation is different in the West, where there is a long tradition of some of the brightest going into the liberal arts, including theology, and bringing rigorous critical analysis to bear on their disciplines.  And this tradition comes to us by way of the Renaissance, which in turn was heavily influenced by the great Muslim thinkers who preceded it.  Unfortunately, Islamic scholarship has been in serious decline since.    [/quote]
It wasn't me. I am agnostic on Leila Ahmed and unaware of the rigor of her theological pedigree. I know her primarily as a historian who wrote about women's rights and position in pre-Islamic Arabia, and her views on the subject are far apart  from the tired myth of "jahilia was hell for women."

I am merely pointing out that you can't really evaluate the rigor of someone's Islamic scholarship credentials based on whether you personally approve of what you have to say.  There are literally hundreds of scholars who believe, based on their studies, that covering is necessary, and it's illogical to discard their scholarship wholesale because you happen to disagree with its conclusions.  Furthermore, if everyone who majors in Islamic studies comes from the bottom of the genetic barrel, then this charge would apply equally to Leila Ahmed.  Just saying. I don't know you but I am sensing that you aren't really well versed in Islamic scholarship enough to be able to sort out whose daleel (chain of evidence) is right and whose is bogus. You are evaluating scholars based on your personal views about conclusions to which they come, and that's wrong.

Finally, there are like dozens of Western-educated Islamic theologians who all support veiling. [/quote]

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