Shayma S accentuates the participation of women in Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and how women leaders are playing their considerable roles in the decision-making bodies of the organisation.
How does one do stock-taking of a movement? Does one trace the big landmarks, and crunch numbers, and evaluate ‘successes’ and ‘failures’? Or does the story run deeper, quieter, and more complicated? For the ‘women of JIH’ – in its many manifestations and structures – one can argue that it is perhaps the latter. There are many micro-stories that no social audit, no matter how qualitative in nature, can accurately capture.
For the secular media, women belonging to Islamic organisations are nothing more than instruments of their own domination and oppression. For others, they are fighting a losing battle to ‘reform’ the irredeemable men of their (stigmatised, stereotyped) community. But what do they have to say about themselves?
A subtle success of the legacy of scholars like Saba Mahmood and others who have patiently explored the location and politics of women in Islamic movements is that now, there is a greater depth of understanding that these women are neither oppressed nor superheroes; neither do they wish to fit into binary frames of others’ makings. They are agents of their own actions, working firmly within the framework of Islam.
As one friend – whose wedding itself took place at a JIH conference – told me, “Hamaritoh rag ragmein Jamaat thi, our lullabies were Hafeez Merathi’sZanjeerain.” For many, the ‘Jamaat connection’ runs deep into homes and is associated with seeing their parents and in some cases, even their grandparents, work tirelessly for ‘tehreek’, and growing into their own roles organically.
A young member told me that her parents had insisted that she read the literature and figure it out for herself, and not take it as given. For others, there were different turning points, some associations with Jamaat-run institutions, or exposure to some extraordinary piece of literature (many women interviewed for this cited Khutbaat and Shahadat e Haq as pivotal ones).
For many of these women, there is a careful juggling of the many spheres in which they have to function – the domestic, the personal, the public and the organisational. If, as Virginia Woolf had argued, a woman writer needs a ‘room of one’s own’, both metaphorical and literal, to be the extraordinary writer that her male peers could be, what do these women activists need to make their journeys more inclusive, their presence more visible?
As of March 2023, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has 3721 women members, out of the total 14195 members. 36 women members were recently elected to Majlis-e-Numaindagan, the Council of Representatives – 22.5% of the total strength. While this number may appear small, it represents a steady rise over the years as the number of women members has increased. The exact number of workers (karkun) and sympathisers (muttafiq) is not available, but everyone put together, according to Syed Sadatullah Hussaini, Ameer e Jamaat, women and girls account for 40 per cent of the JIH cadres . Seats are reserved for women in the Numaindagan corresponding to the strength of the women members in each state, a practice rather uncommon in Muslim organisations – or most socio-political organisations across the country.
While many assume that there were no women pioneering members of Jamaat, Syed Ali Naqi writes, “In early 1947 their number was only four…wives of male members. The women held a separate meeting at the Jamaat’s headquarters in Pathankot.” (Ali 1988: 231)
At the national level, the Department of Women was set up in 2007. Till the women secretaries started working from the Delhi headquarters full time, late Maulana Rafiq Qasmi coordinated the activities along with women leaders working together from their respective halqas.For the past two four-year terms, it has been functioning as a fully-fledged Department from JIH Markaz, with two Secretaries at the helm. Atiya Siddiqua, from Maharashtra, and Rahamathunnissa A, from Kerala, are also members of the Markazi Majlis-e-Shura, the highest decision-making body of the organisation.
The Central Mushwarati Committee of the Women’s Department has 14 members at present from across the country. Over the years, there is a visible increase in the widespread participation of women from across the country in almost all events that take place in Markaz.
Women travel frequently to make it to meetings on diverse topics. Most of my respondents recall fondly a workshop or a meeting where they made unexpected friendships with people they would’ve otherwise never met in their immediate regions. The recent formation of the National Federation of Girls Islamic Organisation in 2022, and the creation of two women’s e-magazines, Haadiya and Aura in 2021 are milestones in expanding the purview of women’s contributions to the broader Islamic movement.
Like everything else, Jamaat is a product of and embedded in the broader Indian Muslim milieu and context. This provides immense challenges for the organisation to reform its own members while also challenging the societal norms within which they function. For example, some young members pointed to the fact that even in families with Jamaat-affiliated members, there were societal beliefs or customs that have been difficult to break or penetrate through, like the treatment of divorced or widowed women, or other personal dynamics that are traditional in the Indian framework, such as working women juggling their multiple roles.
There are invariable differences in culture and practices within the organisation, including among women. Invariably, at any national programme, you will spot women in niqabs, with headscarves, in abayas of diverse colours, speaking in different accents, and with different origin stories and private struggles. Jamaat, with the virtue not being a fiqhi organisation restricting its members to a singular school of thought, brings together members of diverse backgrounds to reform both Muslim society and the broader Indian society. It has struggled to counter the un-Islamic norms that have pervaded the subcontinent about women and the misconceptions that have restricted women’s roles unreasonably.
The Shariah Council of JIH has made it clear that women can address mixed gatherings, keeping in mind the norms of modesty, and partake in shared programmes and has left the valid Islamic differences around niqab to the freedom of its members.Mosques administered and run by JIH have mostly always tried to allocate spaces for women to pray, a rarity in India.
One unanimous assertion that came from the women I interviewed was that JIH has tried its best, at least structurally, to include women in decision-making and policy-framing from day one, even in the embittered contexts of the Partition out of which the organisation re-grouped to its present form. In the context of the Emergency, when many male members of the organisation were jailed, their wives took up an active role and refused to compromise with the police in any way. This was also a turning point for the women membership of Jamaat to grow.
The other thing that many respondents appreciated is the culture of shuraiyat and consultative functioning which ensures that neither can one lobby to seize control of the organisation nor can an individual get exceedingly powerful or project themselves. Multiple members also reported being instantly attracted to Jamaat due to the simplicity and discipline of certain members and leaders of the organisation they witnessed growing up and in their formative years. It is a fact, however, that many of these lofty principles do not always fully translate on the ground, or are forced to encounter the deep-rooted hegemonies of Indian society that does not appreciate speedy reform.
The culture of honest critique has also made it possible for women members to voice their opinions on the shortcomings of Jamaat. A rukn in her forties who has been exposed to Jamaat since her childhood raises questions over the occasional overspill of culture and misconceptions around women’s roles in the marital bond that finds its place in pre-marital counselling sessions run by local units of Jamaat where women are often the ones advised to (unjustly) adjust with everything, while their male counterparts are not subject to such refrains.
One frequent refrain is that women should not be always encouraged to speak only on what is seen as quintessentially women’s issues, such as that revolving around the home, tarbiyah of children, modesty and so on.The women of Jamaat want the organisation to carve out avenues for them to speak on finance, politics, education, global developments, you name it.
The other key demand that emerges is that women’s energies and talents need to be tapped far more than it currently is. A rukn from Karnataka also highlighted that Jamaat needs to actively address the fact that in many cases, women do wish to actively take up Jamaat work but are restricted by the men in their families, and Jamaat should take serious cognizance of this and try to address it.
Another senior member also suggested that Jamaat try its best to identify the many excellent strategists, organisers, and intelligent and bright women with abilities of great planning who go unnoticed because they do not necessarily have the eloquent skills of public speaking. A young member emphasised that Jamaat should focus on making women educated. A Nazima-e-Ilaqa from Uttar Pradesh offered a suggestion that Jamaat should consider making some women full-time employees with salaries at the halqa level as well, as their families might be more accepting of their work if paid.
Many women appreciated the possibility of reading and understanding the Qur’ān with the comprehension that Jamaat always emphasised. Another suggestion came from a senior member who suggested that Jamaat should create avenues for sports and fitness clubs solely for women, as well as avenues for business. While the opinions that emerged were diverse, context-specific and open to question, one thing is common: Jamaat has changed these women’s lives in unmistakable ways. The critique they offer emerges from affection, not from despair or rejection of the basic principles they have imbibed in the journey.
Along the journey, some early pioneers have passed on. A lot of history about the women who made up the early years of Jamaat has gone unrecorded, with only a smattering of names who were foundational to its growth. More recently, many remembered the ones who no longer are around for them to turn to, like Amathur Razzaq, a former member of the Council of Representatives and a fond favourite for many young entrants to Jamaat. In her last days, fasting in the Ramadan of 2022, almost exactly one year to this date, she insisted on completing her duty of Samaat-e-Qur’ān, arguing with her family members that she would do it even if she had to do it lying down. Others continue this legacy, carrying out the not-so-quiet revolutions that are needed both within the home and the public sphere. The women are busy working; circling back to Woolf, it’s high time for society to re-design and re-shape itself to make space for them.
[The writer is a PhD Researcher, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi]