BOOK CHAPTER:Muslim Mothering: Between sacred text and contemporary practices

Title        : Muslim Mothering: Between sacred text  and contemporary practices

Writer   : Margaret Aziza Pappano and Dana M. Olwan

Book chapter

Reference

Pappano, M.A and Olwan, D.M., 2016, Introduction: Muslim Mothering: Between Sacred texts and contemporary practices, in Muslim mothering-global histories, theoris and practices, Margaret A.P, and Dana M.Olwan (Eds), Demeter Press: Canada

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My summary,

I learn from Margaret Aziza Pappano and Dana M.Olwan about Muslim mothering. Women are indicate having the high status in Islam with the famous hadits “Paradise lies at the feet of the mother. Both of them exemplified the women in The Al-Qur’an and their story and toughness.

1)     Khadija-a mother of four daughters, an entrepreneur woman, and also the first wife of the Prophet, 2)

2)     Ayesha, the youngest wife of the Prophet, no child and a smart woman that contribute to many hadiths in the Islamic history, a repository of religious knowledge

3)     Mariam (Mary), the mother of the Prophet Isa (as) with no paternal intervention and raised Isa by her own

4)     Asiya, the wife of Pharaoh, the surrogate mother of Musa (Moses)1)     Asiya, the wife of Pharaoh, the surrogate mother of Musa (Moses) and being breastfed and raised him with her biological mother Yokhebed without the figure of Pharaoh (Fir’aun) as his surrogate father
5)     Nusaybah b. Ka’b al –Ansariyya, a mother, a wife, and also an iron woman that protected the Prophet for Islam enemy during the Uhud war

6)     The wives of the Prophet are known “The Mothers of the Believers”

Important quotation

In an often-cited hadith, echoes throughout this volume, it is states that “Paradise lies at the feet of the mother”, indicating the high status that women occupy in Islam. Scholars have pain considerable attention to Islamic views on mothers, asserting the positive ways in which the role of the mother is described and explicated  pp1

Aliah Schleifer’s Motherhood in Islam (1986), for example, various textual evidence and scripture are presented and analysed in order to explore to the “lofty position” of mothers who birth, feed, and rear children. Schlieffen sheds light on the role that mothers play in the day-to day life of mothers family and showcase the important relationship between the work of mothering and religious practice for Muslim women.  Pp 1

**Schliefer, Aliah. Motherhood in Islam. Cambridge:The Islamic Academy, 1986. Print

Only one of the Prophet’s wives, Khadija, born children to him, four daughters surviving beyond infancy. Khadija is honoured for her nurturing role of both her children and the Prophet himself. The other wives were, with the exception of Ayesha, widows or divorcees, many of whom had previously born children with former husbands; their lack of reproductive identities in the Prophet’s household did not lessen their value in the fledgling Muslim community, however. The prophet’s wives were highly praised and considered example to the community, especially Ayesha, the Prophet’s favourite wife, who never had any children but played a very large role in community affairs and was considered a repository of religious knowledge, narrating more hadith than anyone else. Indeed, the childlessness of the Prophet’s wives was considered a sigh of piety, since lack of male lineage was a necessity for Muhammad’s status as “the seal of the prophets” (Powers). The wives played nurturing roles to the community at large and are referred to as “The mothers of the believers” in the Qur’an (33:6) pp5

In the Qur’an, Mariam (Mary) is a particularly elevated figure, dedicated in her youth to devotional service that was previously an exclusively male domain. Because of her exceptional piety, Allah granted her the gift of motherhood with no paternal intervention. Unlike in the Bible, Prophet Isa (Jesus) is not considered the “son of God” but is referred to throughout as “the son of Mary,” emphasizing his lack of paternity since Arab identity is registered by patronymic, the father’s name. Asiya, the surrogate mother of Musa (Moses), is also singled out as a virtuous figure of her nurturance of and devotion to her son, likewise a prophet. The Qur’an emphasizes her defiance of her husband, Pharaoh, to protect Musa’s life, in addition to her care for the infant’s welfare, which involve returning him to his biological mother to nurse. Mariam and Asiya are considered the two most figures, motherhood and mothering are both completely independent of fathers and form the basis of their special status.  Pp 6

Yes Muslim cultural traditions and conservative interpretations of the texts frequently circumscribe mothering roles within patriarchal family unit. It is commonly held that Islam insists on gender distinction-God created two genders and each is seen as having different, albeit equally important, roles in society  (AI 133; Upal 90). Women’s biological capacity for bearing children is frequently taken as the basis for her distinctive role: the caretaker of the family rather than the breadwinner, which is frequently seen as the male role (Schleifer 51-52). Although there is evidence in both the Qur’an and hadith that women were important political figures and even military heroines in the prophet’s day, this evidence is frequently elided in favour of the sources limiting women’s duties to the familial sphere. For instance, Nusaybah b. Ka’b al –Ansariyya, one of the earliest Madinah women to swear allegiance to the Prophet and to teach the religion, armed with sword and shield fought alongside her husband and two sons in the battle of Uhud, heroically defending the Prophet and preserving him from harm. Indeed she went on to fight in several more battles and also played a role in securing a treaty. In these early sources, motherhood and active public service are not seen as contradictory; however, Nusaybah’s example is not commonly cited today as a basis for extrapolating contemporary Muslim gender roles. Pp6