Exploring Women's Madrasahs in South Africa: Implications for the Construction of Muslim Personhood and Religious Literacy

Abstract

Set against the backdrop of a changing pluralistic South African society, this article traces the shifts concerning religion in public education, followed by an examination of the discernible motivations that undergirded the establishment of women's madrasahs (Islamic educational institutions). Collectively representing an alternative approach to education by acknowledging and preserving Muslim identity, history, and religiosity, madrasah education is also configured through particular understandings of gender and gender relations in Islam. Hence, in this article, I probe the extent to which women's madrasahs in South Africa introduce notions of gendered religious literacy and personhood, and whether these are fashioned along traditional gender scripts and ideals.

Notes

However, recent scholarship—of which some is located within the emerging discourse of Islamic feminism—increasingly engages the development of women's madrasahs in the modern period, as well as documenting and rendering visible astute female religious instructors in the medieval era. See for example, Shaikh (2012); Keiko (2011); Masumi and Atsuko (2011); Zahab (2008); Winkelmann (2008); and Abou-Bakr (2003).

²The title “The Long Walk to Freedom” is undoubtedly primarily associated with Nelson Mandela's seminal autobiography. However, in the context of this article, I have borrowed it from M. S. Amin (2005), who aptly titled her paper on the history of religion in education in South Africa: “The Long Walk to Freedom: From Religious Instruction to Religion in Education.”

For an in-depth engagement on education during apartheid South Africa, see Kallaway (2002).

For example, for Judaism, see Steinberg (1989); for Hinduism, see Sivananda (1970); and for Islam, see Davids (1989).

Following the implementation of the new Religion and Education Policy, however, a range of legal and civic contestations have emerged. Predominantly, contestations pertain to the right to perform religious worship and exercise particular religious observances (e.g., Muslim girls’ wearing of hijab) in public schools. For a thorough engagement on particular cases, see Settler (2013).

For detailed accounts on the history of Muslim arrival in South Africa, see Bradlow and Cairns (1978); Davids (1980); Mahida (1993); and Vahed (2000a).

This article will from here on focus on madrasah education in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng as these provinces constitute the landscape through which the two empirical case studies informing this article are situated. Furthermore, according to Sayed (2010), the majority of madrasahs (23 in total, of which five cater for female students only) are located in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, whereas only four madrasahs are based in the Western Cape. For published works dealing more specifically with the development of Islamic education in the Cape, see Ajam (1989) and Fataar (2005).

The Deobandi approach to Islam (originating in Deoband, India) developed as a response to British colonialism in India, with its embedded Christian ethos. Deobandi interpretations of Islam sought to revive (traditional) Islam from foreign and syncretic influences and can be characterized by its purism and pietistic attitudes, see Metcalf (1982).

The Barelwi movement (originating in Bareilly, India) arose as a response to the Deobandi movement, and members claimed to be the only true followers of the Prophet and his Sunna (the ways of the Prophet and his companions). Barelwi adherents can be distinguished most clearly from Deobandis at the level of religious praxis as their rituals includes Sufi-inspired veneration of saints and relatedly, worship at their shrines, see Sanyal (1996).

For critical feminist engagement with patriarchal articulations of gender in Islam, see Shaikh (2007); Ali (2006); and Barlas (2002).

This distinctive feature of female madrasahs became particularly clear in Sayed (2010), who interviewed founding members and staff at eighteen madrasahs in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, of which five madrasahs catered for female students only.

Zahab also points out, however, in the context of women's madrasahs in Iran, that many madrasah-educated women have gone on to teach the Qur’an to rural women. Some have also become acclaimed religious preachers and enjoy increased levels of religious authority in certain local communities (2008, 129–137).

McDonald notes that her being a female researcher undoubtedly allowed her access to this madrasah. Moreover, she also pointed out that her Muslim identity helped to facilitate rapport with her interviewees who also consisted of founders, management, board members, teachers, and a few graduates (2013, 110).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nina Hoel

Nina Hoel is currently Associate Professor in Religion and Society/Interreligious Studies at the Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo, Norway. E-mail: [email protected]