c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The Islamic Society of North America recently elected Ingrid Mattson as its new president. Mattson is the first woman to head ISNA and one of only a handful of Muslim women who hold leadership positions at a national level.

As an American Muslim woman, I welcome her election as a great step forward for Muslim women. But as a progressive Muslim, I worry that her election is, at best, a mixed blessing.

The Muslim American community stands in an odd position regarding the role of women. On the one hand, women in the American Muslim community enjoy far greater freedoms and participation in religious life than many of our sisters overseas and our activism is often welcomed by the community.

But on the other hand, we are still struggling under prejudicial conditions. Surveys reveal that some 60 percent of U.S. mosques relegate women to unequal facilities _ back rooms, curtained-off sections with inadequate seating and poor sound systems _ and that our activism is channeled into “women’s” activities: youth activities, outreach to other women, social services.

In many mosques, women are not allowed to vote or run in leadership elections; in others, they are expected to serve on the “ladies committee.” Many of our families still raise children with a moral, social and educational double standard that detrimentally impacts the life choices of our young women.

Mattson has been a strong advocate for addressing some of these wrongs. She is an outspoken supporter of bringing women into the same prayer space as men, albeit in separate rows. She has come out firmly for women’s participation in elections and service on mosque boards in any capacity. As such, one can expect that she will spearhead an effort to improve the standing of women in our community, and that she will have a reasonable degree of success.

But in other ways, I worry that Mattson actually undermines women’s rights and participation, because she understands the relationship between men and women in a way that limits women’s activities, and attributes that understanding to Islam itself.

Mattson affirms the notion that women are essentially temptations for men, and that the onus of reducing that temptation lies on the woman, rather than the man. Women cannot sing in public, because men will be allured by the sweetness of their voices; women cannot lead in prayers because men will be distracted from their devotions by the sexuality of the imam.

Mattson, essentially, agrees with the arguments that other groups use to deny the very rights she advocates for. She argues that there is good speech (lecturing, reciting straight poetry) and bad speech (singing, recitation accompanied by swaying). Mattson’s advocacy for women’s leadership is compromised because she accepts the notion that in certain instances _ i.e., in prayer _ women’s leadership is not acceptable.

Other Muslims use the same arguments, but draw the line between good speech and bad speech much more conservatively than Mattson. Indeed, the most restrictive of societies and movements _ the Taliban, the Wahhabis _ use the exact same arguments as Mattson. They just draw the line at different places.

Mattson’s effect on the American Muslim community, and the greater Muslim society, is likely, in the long run, to be detrimental. By legitimizing these arguments, she gives power to those who would use the same argument to strip women of the very rights and involvement she seeks to secure for them.

What we need is not a Muslim woman in power, but one who insists upon the Quranic understanding that men and women are human beings first, and gendered beings second. We need a leader who recaptures the methodology of Muhammad who, when his cousin was staring at a beautiful woman, turned the young man’s face rather than telling the woman to cover more.

I hope Mattson’s impact will be far more positive than negative, but I fear that whatever gains she may win for women in the short run are likely to be overshadowed in the long run by the fact that she does not challenge prejudicial, patriarchal notions of womanhood. Only in challenging those patriarchal notions will we find the true path to women’s empowerment.

KRE/CM/JL END TAYLOR

(Pamela K. Taylor is co-chair of the Progressive Muslim Union, and director of the Islamic Writers Alliance.)

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