Reform in Islam?: Interviews with Islamic Theology Students in Turkey Tell a Different Story 

A master’s degree thesis recently written in Turkey reveals the attitudes of the students at two Islamic studies departments concerning violence against women, polygamy and gender-based segregation in education. The findings of the thesis make us once again pose this significant question: Would an “Islamic reform” make the Muslim communities more humanitarian and a safer culture, particularly for children and women?

The Turkish newspaper BirGün reported on July 28 that 735 students at the Islamic Theology departments of the universities in the cities of Bingöl and Samsun were interviewed regarding the thesis, which was uploaded on the website of the National Thesis Center of Turkey’s Council of Higher Education (YÖK). Here are some of the findings:

• The students were asked if they thought “it was wrong to beat women in certain cases”. Eighty-six of them said they did not find it objectionable to beat women and 108 partially agreed. Some 541 did not support beating women.
• 51.5% of students at Bingöl University said they did not support polygamy. 29.2% supported the practice, while 19.3% partially did. Twenty percent of the university in Samsun supported the idea of marriage with multiple women in some cases.
• Segregation of girls and boys in education is very popular with Islamic studies students at these two universities. 46.4% of the students said men and women should be educated in separate classrooms and 16.6% partially supported the practice.

These findings demonstrate that many students disagree with the teachings of Islamic scriptures. But what should be noted is that the beliefs of those who agree with practices such as violence against women, polygamy and gender-based segregation are based on Islamic scriptures – as Islamic theology does, in fact, sanction these practices.

“Does Islam allow a man to hit his wife?,” asks the website TheReligionofPeace.com. The answer is:

Yes, but only if she doesn’t do as he tells her. The beating must stop if the woman complies with her husband’s demands. Behind verbal abuse and abandonment, beating is intended as [a] last resort solution to coerce submission.

According her testimony in the Hadith, Muhammad physically struck his favorite wife for leaving the house without his permission. It is not known how he treated his less-favored wives.

When wife-beating is normalized or excused by a certain religion and practiced in Muslim communities for centuries under the protection of that religion, women are increasingly dehumanized and violence against them becomes a widespread part of the culture.

Another question: “Does Islam permit a man to have more than one wife?”

Yes. A Muslim man can marry as many as four women at a time and have sexual relations with an unspecified number of slaves as well. Muhammad had eleven wives at one time.

The website also adds that “the practice of polygamy is a mathematical contradiction of the principle that men and women are to be treated equally. The Quran’s allowance of multiple wives thus poses a challenge for the contemporary apologist, who wants his Western audience to believe that Islam encourages gender equality.”

The Religion of Peace website further explains: “There are worse things in the world than polygamy (which has been practiced by many cultures outside of Islam), but it is shocking to see a religion place such high value on a man’s base sexual desire as to permit him to bring other women into the marriage bed just to satisfy lust.”

An individual’s support for such practices is not an indicator that she or he is a promoter or believer of “radical Islam.” It is an indicator that these individuals support abusive rules or requirements of mainstream, normative Islam. Related verses from the Koran, the Sira (the biography of Mohammed) and the Hadith (the traditions of Mohammed) can be seen here and here.

Stopping or reducing abuse against women thus becomes even more difficult, if not impossible, if the country is ruled according to Sharia law. Under Sharia, even the judiciary often sides with the perpetrator rather than the victim.

Until the freedom to discuss these issues objectively is recognized without violence, threats or name-calling, the causes of gender equality and women’s rights will never gain sweeping success in the Muslim world. Moreover, women’s rights in the West will be increasingly compromised given the waves of mass immigration of Muslims from Sharia-compliant countries.

“Reform” in Islam?

The Protestant Reformation, the religious revolution that took place in the Western church in the 16th century, advocated theological reform: “Scripture alone” was authoritative (sola scriptura) and justification was by faith (sola fide). The supporters of sola scriptura argued that the Bible was the supreme authority over the Church and that all other authorities — including Church leadership — must submit to scripture.

Those in the West who call for “a reform in Islam” based on the Protestant model are dangerously misled, because sola scriptura in Islam could give the world more violence, more inequality of men and women, and more jihad.

What is needed to advance human rights in the Muslim world is more critical thinking and more questioning of Islam, and ideally, more freedom for other philosophies and religions – particularly the Judeo-Christian tradition – to express themselves, spread and take root in those lands.

Perhaps what Western reformists actually aim for is “secularization” in the Muslim world or for Muslims to choose humanitarian values over Islamic ones. In the case of the Islamic theocratic regime of Iran, this is happening. But ironically, it is happening through Christianization – as more and more Iranians are leaving Islam and willingly converting to Christianity.

One major difference between Islam and Christianity is, unlike Islam, Christianity paves the way for “separation of church and state” – or between “ecclesiastical” and “secular” or “spiritual” and “worldly.”

Islam, however, sees no distinction between religion and politics. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, from the earliest period, there was a difference. Aaron, for instance, was the religious leader while Moses was the political leader. There is also a difference between the kingship, the prophets and the priesthood.

Islam has never accepted this distinction. Muhammad was a general of an army, a religious and political leader as well as the chief lawgiver – he thus combined all forms of power in one. According to Islamic scriptures, laws are given by Allah, and it is a Muslim’s duty to obey them. Human beings themselves have no authority to make laws. This is not “radical Islam.” This is not only al-Qaeda. This is just a core worldview that has been part of Islam since its very beginning.

Hence calling on Muslims “to take Islamic scriptures alone seriously” may yield the exact opposite of what supporters of reform in Islam in the West aim to achieve. Going to the “scripture alone” in Islam will very likely increase the number of Muslims who beat their wives, engage in polygamy, implement gender-based segregation, and other practices that negate gender equality, as well as compromise the principle of equal justice under law.

Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist and political analyst formerly based in Ankara.