Religion moves into the realm of the rational the moment when specific and specified texts are generated, reproduced and disseminated according to Weber. As such, the capacity to generate, reproduce and disseminate concepts from texts is shown to be consequential. In Weber’s work, the presence of women is not overt. Scholarship has explored how women are positioned in religious texts, but comparatively little scholarship has engaged with how they generate, reproduce and disseminate texts. This article interrogates the position of women in relation to a religious textual generation, reproduction and dissemination within an Islamic tradition. Ethnographic data from a Deobandi-aligned education institution or madrasa was drawn on. Data were analysed with regard to how the texts used in the institution of Islamic learning are generated, reproduced and disseminated and the position of women in this regard.
Findings illustrated that women are key disseminators of particular forms of Islamic (religious) texts. As such, there are opportunities for women to generate and reproduce their own meaning of the texts. The article enhanced scholarship with regard to how women are able to maintain, extend and expand theologies. In this way, it demonstrated how women might be empowered to do so.
Religion moves into the realm of the rational the moment when specific and specified texts are generated, reproduced and disseminated according to Weber (
A great deal of scholarship has explored how women are positioned
In this article, a process that has been demonstrated by Weber to be central to a particular modality of religion – rational religion – is the focus, and the position of women with regard to this process is assessed. In other words, the ethnography from which data are drawn is sociologically framed and attempts to unpack how authority in a space is legitimised. In addition, how women are positioned in this process is highlighted. As Grewal (
This article interrogates the position of women in relation to religious textual generation, reproduction and dissemination. In order to do so, the article draws on ethnographic data from a Deobandi-aligned education institution in South Africa. Data are analysed with regard to how texts used in the institution are generated, reproduced and disseminated and the position of women in this regard. Findings suggest that, in this space, women are key disseminators of particular forms of Islamic (religious) texts. Moreover, and as a consequence, there are opportunities for women to generate and reproduce their own meaning of the texts. Data from this ethnography thus reinforce both Weber and Asad’s assertions while showing how each of their insights allows greater understanding of the processes related to rational religious ethics and the position of women therein. The article begins by drawing on Max Weber’s theorisation of how religions rationalise to analyse the texts within the Deobandi education movement. The section that follows provides a brief overview of the methodology, followed by a presentation of data. The article ends with a discussion of the data and conclusion.
This section of the article outlines the theoretical framing. The work of Weber (
Max Weber asserts that the most rational form of religion, inner-worldly asceticism or a religious ethic has a significant impact on human action and consequently on society. Weber (
Prophetic revelation as text is fundamental to religion rationalising. Prophetic revelation provides ‘a unified view of the world derived from a consciously integrated and meaningful attitude to life’ (Weber
In the entire context of the process of rationalisation, Weber emphasises the importance of the development of a
Talal Asad’s notion of tradition as discursive practice (see Grewal
Once there are sacred texts, however, these are subjected both to continual editing and to complex processes of interpretation, and tend to become the focus of specialised intellectual competence and prestige. (p. 37)
Neither Weber nor this article claims that rationalised religion is held solely within a static textual tradition. Following Weber, this article, however, claims that a rational religious ethic is constructed on the basis of an existing textual corpus. In other words, the discursive practice is circumscribed by a particular set of texts. This is not to say that these texts cannot be or are not contested. Indeed, in the process of being contested, their position as doctrinal texts is legitimated and upheld as they become the cog within discursive practice or tradition. A
Doctrine can thus be regarded as the textual basis on which rational religious ethics rely. A doctrine is comprised, for Weber (
Weber identified Puritanism as the quintessential rationalised religious ethic or inner-worldly religious ethic in which doctrine features prominently. Protestantism, for Weber (
The writings of Richard Baxter (a writer of Puritan ethics who authored the
Vernacular writings, achieving, like Richard Baxter’s writings, extensive prevalence and readability, have been associated with and identified within the Deobandi education movement. Zaman (
The most significant vernacular writing or popular manuscript associated with the Deobandi education movement which achieved an extensive readership is the
Weber provides an exacting explication of how the Protestant ethic came to guide the actions of many, to the extent that, in his view, it brought about an economic revolution society continues to be founded on. Within this explication, wherein texts feature prominently, women are not positioned in relation to how texts were generated or reproduced. None of the texts mentioned in the discussion above regarding either the Protestant or Deobandi movements are authored by women. Female teachers are, however, central to disseminating the texts in educational institutions for women associated with the Deobandi education movement (Sayed
This section begins with a brief overview of how data presented here were collected. Data are then presented with regard to women’s position in the generation, reproduction and dissemination of religious texts used in the education institution, Madrasa Warda.
Madrasa Warda was established in 1996 in Lenasia, South Africa, by three men, Mawlana Rafeek Randeree,
In addition to being a founder member and the principal of Madrasa Warda, as well as a social counsellor, Moulana Randeree is also an imam (leader) at a mosque in Lenasia and a principal of an afternoon madrasa. Mohamed, another founder member, credits his history as an educator within the community as a reason for being a founder, although he is not an Islamic scholar. For example, Mohamed assisted with teaching secular subjects at a Deobandi Darul ’Ulum in Johannesburg. Although Mohamed has not undergone formal training in Islamic education, he has been involved with institutions of Islamic education, such as the case of the Darul ’Ulum, through his expertise in the field of secular education. Parak is a teacher at a Deobandi Darul ’Ulum for young boys.
The strategic management of Madrasa Warda is conducted by a board, according to the founders and teachers at Madrasa Warda. At the time of data collection, there were five male board members, Randeree, Mawlana Abdul Hamid Khan, together with three other Mawlanas, who are all members of the Jamiatul Ulama. The Jamiatul Ulama (
Most of the teachers are women who had qualified at Islamic seminaries for women. From 1998 until 2004, at any given time, there were between one and two male teachers, all of whom had qualified at Deobandi institutions, on the staff of Madrasa Warda. All the teaching staff at Madrasa Warda, dedicated to teach Islamic subjects, have graduated from Deobandi institutions, female or male. All the students and consequently graduates are female. The graduates who are working are teaching young children Islamic education.
From the above, the connection of Madrasa Warda to the Deobandi movement is evident. Moreover, it is apparent that men are in management and leadership positions at the education institution. It would thus appear that men are at the helm of decisions related to the content knowledge transmitted during teaching at Madrasa Warda. These are not just any men; they are men who are firmly entrenched within Deobandi networks, all but one of whom have qualifications from associated institutions. The remainder of this section examines the texts used in teaching at the madrasa and how these are engaged with by the teachers and students. It would appear from the interactions which occur at Madrasa Warda that this education institution for women is a space where religious texts, associated with the Deobandi movement, are disseminated by and to women.
The excerpt below from an interview conducted with Yusuf Mohamed illustrates that the Qur’an framed the curriculum at Madrasa Warda:
‘If I look back, it was saying what would make them good mothers, good housewives, responsible people taking their place in society so that they would be able to know that these are my responsibilities, these are my roles, these [
From the excerpt above, it is clear that inasmuch as the Qur’an framed the curriculum, the aim was not to ensure that the students enrolled at Madrasa Warda knew specific chapters and verses but that they understood the overall message of the Qur’an. The overall message would by implication be an interpretation thereof by someone else, as opposed to, although not necessarily different from, the original text. At Madrasa Warda, the aim was to imbue the young women with a distilled version of the Qur’an, a version distilled by someone else. A version distilled by those associated with the Deobandi movement and ethic. A version in which their role as women included being good mothers, good housewives and responsible people in society.
The Islamic programme at Madrasa Warda consists of 3 years of study wherein a number of texts are selected as textbooks for subjects. A few examples are drawn on in order to demonstrate who have generated the texts taught to the young women at Madrasa Warda. The
In the second and third years, an Arabic–English translation of
In the remainder of this section, five incidents will be described that occurred at Madrasa Warda during the participant observation. Each of the incidents highlights a manner in which spaces are opened up where teachers and students generate their own meanings. This is not to suggest that such meanings disrupt the meanings in the texts. They are, however, an indication that teachers and learners are engaging with the meanings of the texts from their own perspectives. The incidents therefore provide evidence not of disruption but of a continued meaning-making associated with the Deobandi ethic beyond vernacular writings, wherein women are centrally positioned. That the ideas generated and reproduced by the teachers and students may not be commensurate with what is normatively regarded as emancipatory is not at issue here. The incidents point to how women are positioned in the generation, reproduction and dissemination of religious texts, within the context of the Deobandi ethic in particular and rational religious ethics in general.
The first incident is a debate among students, a recurring feature on the time-table, held periodically on Fridays. The students are divided into three groups across the 3 years of study and given a topic by the teachers for each debating session. At each session, two groups debate the given topic and the third group adjudicates between them. Each group is expected to develop their own position and arguments. During debates, the teachers are present as spectators and do not question, correct or interrupt the students in any way. They listen and allow the students to express their opinions as they see fit.
Contributions from students during a debate with the topic, ‘The status of women in relation to men in Islam’, demonstrated that apart from consuming texts generated and reproduced by others’, the young women generated interpretations of their own. The students exuded a good deal of competence and confidence in their level of Islamic education and in presenting this to others. The young women engaged the meaning or interpretation of specific verses of the Qur’an in the debate. The students formed their own arguments during the debate based on Qur’anic
The
The debate demonstrated the knowledge students had in respect of Islam, to the extent that they were able to draw from the Qur’an as well as hadīth in many instances. Whether their interpretation was correct or the extent of their knowledge is not considered here. This research also did not attempt to ascertain whether this is a view of the
A second incident provides evidence of teachers and students generating new insights within the Deobandi doctrine. There were many opportunities during class where contemporary issues were addressed. The Class 1 and Class 2 learners had a period dedicated to deliberating contemporary issues each week. The discussions in class ranged from Mxit
The last three incidents occurred outside of the conventional school day, at the annual
The third incident is a short play performed by students at the
The fourth and fifth incidents are speeches prepared and presented by students at the
The fifth incident, also a speech at the
[
While the claim would not hold any ground in an academic journal or a newspaper, the point was not lost on the audience at the
We need to introspect, is our so-called ‘Islamic wear’ in conformity with the dressing of
The play and speeches at the
This article has interrogated the position of women in relation to religious textual generation, reproduction and dissemination. In order to do so, the article drew on ethnographic data from a Deobandi-aligned education institution or madrasa. Data were analysed with regard to how the texts used in this institution of Islamic learning are generated, reproduced and disseminated, together with the position of women in this regard. The analysis drew on Weber’s notion of doctrinal development within rational religious ethics without discounting Asad’s proposition that tradition be regarded as discursive practice. Findings suggest that, in this space, women are key disseminators of particular forms of Islamic (religious) texts. Moreover, and as a consequence, there are opportunities for women to generate and reproduce their own meaning of the texts. This does not necessarily imply that women generate new or unique meaning but that they articulate existing meaning from their perspective – that they engage in discursive practice.
The incidents presented in the findings constitute moments where students articulate meaning from religious texts, authored by men. In this context of an institution of learning attended by women with female teachers, the meanings are generated, reproduced and disseminated by and to women. Here, young women are re-inscribing how they understand what they have been taught about their tradition. In other words, the incidents at Madrasa Warda presented in this article represent discursive practices within the Deobandi ethic. The articulated meanings are not published texts but are being generated, reproduced and disseminated within the spaces provided by this education institution.
The extent of the generation is, however, tenuous. There is no evidence of sustained disruption in a specific direction, which may lift the meaning, normatively speaking, into a modern era of gendered emancipation. Additional research is required that focuses on how rational religious ethics may be discursively disrupted towards a particular end, by whom and under what conditions. Such research would allow deeper insights into the position of women in relation to religious textual generation, reproduction and dissemination. Vernacular writings are, however, not only difficult for women to disrupt, but for most people, male or female, disruptions fall outside a specific doctrine. The fundamental condition for the capability to generate religious texts, which can be regarded as a vernacular writing, is extensive knowledge within a given tradition; in other words, the nature of discursive practice hinges on the quality and level of one’s education associated with that tradition. This is highlighted by Grewal’s (
The case of Madrasa Warda thus adds further credence to Asad’s critique of Weber that doctrine is not static but can be viewed as the discursive practices of individuals’ lived experience. At the same time, the incidents at Marda Warda illustrate that discursive practices remain rooted in the doctrinal texts accepted in the tradition, in this case, shown to be a rational religious ethic. The article illustrates, moreover, that educational institutions constitute formidable spaces where women are positioned in relation to religious textual generation, reproduction and dissemination, as such contributing to doctrinal development through what may also be regarded as discursive practices. As such, educational institutions are important sites for further interrogating theoretical claims to doctrinal development and/or discursive practices and specifically the position of women within these. Women’s contribution to theology can thus be regarded as tied to their position within educational spaces of teaching and learning where the modalities of generating, reproducing and disseminating religious text are authorised.
This study was supervised by Profs. Tina Uys, Kamilla Naidoo and Farid Esack.
The author declares that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
Z.M. is the sole author of this research article.
Ethical approval to conduct this study was obtained from the University of Johannesburg, Humanities Ethics Committee (number not available).
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the author.
Madrasa Warda is a pseudonym for an Islamic education institution for young women in Johannesburg, South Africa, where fieldwork presented in this article was conducted.
Pseudonyms are used for all the respondents; however, the title (Mawlana, Hafiz, Appa) that is used to address the individual within the community has been retained because it provides a sense of their religious affiliation and community.
The Jamiatul Ulama are an organisation of religious scholars in South Africa.
Mxit is a social media application or platform.