Analyzing Muslim Women’s Leadership : The Contemporary Context

Abstract

Women’s leadership has become a contentious issue in the contemporary history of some Muslim societies. While it has been allowed by some Islamic scholars according to the necessity of the society in modern context, it has been largely rejected by majority Islamic scholars for its debilitating effects. Instances of women’s leadership in general and as heads of the Muslim states can be found in the context of the success of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, Khalida Zia and Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh1 , Megawati Sukarnoputri in Indonesia, Atifete Jahjaga in Kosovo, Roza Otunbayeva in Kyrgyzstan, and Mame Madior Boye in Senegal. The contentious issue is debatable because no clear-cut direction was stated regarding the headship of the state and high government position that makes the issue divisive and conflict-ridden. Given the context, there is a need to analyze Muslim’s leadership in contemporary context. The paper examines the concept, brief history, the importance of women’s leadership and analyzes the views of Islamic scholars within the purview of contemporary Islamic thought, which is based on the textual arguments of the Qur’an and Sunnah. The paper concludes that though a tiny fraction of the whole Muslim spectrum tries to justify the permissibility of women’s leadership in developing socio-economic and political perspectives, many Muslim scholars have viewed it as the violation of God’s commands and, therefore, vehemently avert the appointment of women as the head of the state as well as government high