Week 3 Blog Post

Mernissi begins her book explaining that it is a "narrative of recollection"- a piece looking into the nooks and crannies of history that have been untouched.  She focuses primarily on A'isha and the heritage of the Hadith, "Those who entrust their affairs to a woman will never know prosperity".  She draws back to the Companion, Abu Bakra, who recalled this Hadith upon A'isha's declaration of civil war.  Mernissi, however, provides context for the Hadith, making it a bit more understandable than just an absurd, sexist Islam tradition.  She explains that A'isha was the first to bring on a civil war since the Prophet's death and that many wanted to remain neutral in a confusing situation.  She further explains, "many of the Companions and inhabitants of Basra chose neutrality in the conflict, only Abu Bakra justified it by the fact that one of the parties was a woman" (57). She goes on to explain the respect other men had for A'isha, her gender not being an issue- questioning the validity of Abu Bakra's Hadith.  She then goes onto explain the rigor necessary for the Hadith to be valid, eventually disproving Abu Bakra's claim as valid.  However, Mernissi goes onto explain that while several misogynistic claims are refuted by the rules of viewing Islam as science, they still exist as Hadith. 
The final chapter discusses the origin of the hijab.  Mernissi explains its first use as a curtain to draw out unwanted guests at the Prophet's wedding celebration, and goes on to give the historical context for the sudden separation it created.  She goes on to discuss the linguistic implications of "hijab" and its many dimensions.
After reading the chapters, I still felt the question that remained was why these traditions still exist.   She gave proof for why they should not be taken as truisms, but they still are- even though she spends time to prove the Hadith invalid.  She provides a good amount of background that gives the reader an unbiased view of both sides of the issue regarding the Civil War with A'isha, which is very successful in disproving the Hadith.  Yet the renouncement of the Hadith seems more of a small, personal victory than a call for change.  It seemed as if the writing got so caught up in the historical element that she lost what she vehemently set out for in the introduction.  The chapter on the hijab also raised many questions for me.  She explains the paradox- that the hijab which separates "you from the prince is to be respected, the one thatseparates you from God should be destroyed" (96).  It is a sign of shame or distance from God in the Koran, but also acts as almost a badge for Muslim women.  I still felt lost as how this transition happened.  Having spoken to Muslim women who were hijabs and those who do not raise even more questions of how it has become a sort of symbol for Muslim women that some find peace in wearing and others do not.  Of course it is a choice and based on individual preferences, but I still wonder how it even came to be such an important choice.