Feminism and Religion: the fight to matter in a patriarchal society.

Gender equality is a fundamental development
objective, and is essential to enabling women and men participate equally in society and in the economy.

In recent years significant progress has been made in closing gender
gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa: by 2008, there were 91 girls for every 100 boys in primary school, up from 85
girls in 1999. And at 61 percent, women in Sub-Saharan Africa have one of the highest labor force participation rates in the world. Despite these gains, African women continue to face some grim facts. Girls are still much less likely than boys to benefit from a secondary education. An African woman faces a 1 in 31 chance of dying from complications due to pregnancy or childbirth, compared to a 1 in 4,300 chance in the developed world. And women and girls often have little influence over resources and norms,
restricting what jobs and crops are considered appropriate for women and thus limiting their earning potential in agriculture, enterprise or the labor market. Women’s voice and agency remain limited, with rates of gender-based violence reaching alarming levels.
Poor access to legal rights, sexual and reproductive health services, freedom of movement, and political voice pose additional constraints for women. Attitudes and customs perpetuate many of these inequalities across generations.

Nigeria just like most nations in Africa have been last on the list of countries that champion the course of equality between men and women chiefly becaue of religion and tradition. Recently the The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar, has called on the Nigerian Senate not to consider the bill seeking gender equality in inheritance because of
its religious implications. The sultan said this while speaking at the closing ceremony of the 20th Zamfara State annual Qur’anic recitation competition.
According to him, the bill is unacceptable to Muslims
because it is against Islamic teachings.

"Our religion is our total way of life; therefore,
we will not accept any move to change what
Allah permitted us to do... Islam is a peaceful
religion; we have been living peacefully with
Christians and followers of other religions in
this country. Therefore, we should be allowed
to perform our religion effectively.” He said.

Now the question is,  what is equality for the purposes of religion and how do we balance the conflicting views of the religious and secular?  The word – Equality – which many thinkers
around the world advocate in various
fields of life is a word which is based on deviation and a lack of understanding, especially when the speaker attributes this idea of equality to religion (especially
Islam and/or Christainity). One of the things that people misunderstand is
when they say that “Islam or Christainity  is a religion of equality”.  I rather feel the best view is that what they should say is that Islam and/or Christainity  is a
religion of justice.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen once famously said and i quote:

“Here we should note that there are some people who speak of equality instead of justice, and this is a mistake. We should not say equality, because equality implies no differentiation between the two. But if we say justice, which means giving each one that to which he or she is entitled, this misunderstanding no longer applies, and the word used is correct.  Hence it does not say in the Qur’aan that Allaah enjoins equality, rather it says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily, Allaah enjoins Al‑‘Adl (i.e. justice)”
[al-Nahl 16:90]

The bible also is not in any form less guilty of breeding patriarchy as Genesis 03:16  thus says:

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy
sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt
bring forth children;
and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.  As this scriptural piece has been largely interpreted by most clergy men as authority to male superiority. It's obvious that a superfluous interpretation of these holy books will unavoidably work hardship on women and the society at large and i personally will be reluctant to side the secular view point while ignoring the views of the religious. In order to come to a mutual ground one has to implore the Golden rule of interpretation.

The best way to live through the challenge is striking a balance between the rights of women and men paying particular attention to opinion from both the secular and religious view points but for a start I believe the middle ground is redefining our theology instead of radically changing views in the society.

Your thoughts and comments.

Note: comments are not the views of the Author and no liability will be assumed. Thank you.