Female Convert is ISNA President
Can someone tell me if this is also the first time a convert has been President of ISNA?
Ingrid Mattson, a convert to Islam and an Islamic law scholar at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, was chosen to lead the Islamic Society of North America just ahead of its annual convention, which starts Friday in Rosemont, Ill.
“This is a community that can choose to be whatever it wishes to be, unlike many other Muslims throughout the world who don’t live in democratic societies,” Mattson said yesterday in a phone interview from Chicago.
“I think it shows what Muslims can do and would like to do.”
[...]
Islamic Society of North America for many years, Elmasry said, adding he doesn’t think her gender will be a barrier.
“She’s well-respected, she’s known to American Muslims (because) she’s been a speaker at so many events in the last 10 years.”
Mattson converted to Islam during or sometime around her last year at the University of Waterloo, said her older brother Hal Mattson, a Kitchener lawyer.
She wasn’t the only one of her siblings to switch religions — her older sister Peggy Smith, now a lawyer in Kingston, converted to Judaism, said Hal, who remains a Catholic.
A “liberal upbringing” encouraged the Mattson kids to ask questions, he said.
There was some shock in the family when Ingrid converted, but nobody was too upset, and it isn’t an issue now, her brother said.
Ingrid is married to a fellow Muslim and has two children, a boy and a girl in their teens, Hal said. She periodically makes it back to Kitchener and goes to the family cottage near Kingston a few times a year.
As president of the Islamic society, she’ll be moderate and articulate, her brother said.
“Whatever position she takes she’ll be able to articulate in a meaningful way. . . . Not a feminist radical, not a Muslim radical. She’s very reasonable.”
Ms Mattson has also led efforts to make mosques more woman friendly, a must here in the West. Show me a strong women’s program in a community and I will show you a strong community.
Link: A new voice of Islam for North America
Link: Woman to lead top Muslim group
Filed under: Convert Issues
I think it is a step in the right direction for ISNA to have elected Dr. Mattson. She is a wonderful speaker and inshaAllah she can be a good spokewoman for Muslims in America.
Salaam ‘Alaikum
I believe she is the first convert, American born Muslim to lead ISNA.
assalamu alikeum
Im not from the U.S but i’ve seen her in videos, articles etc.. and I’ve found her to be an excellent speaker, articulate and an intelligant women. Im glad to see that she’s the new president of ISNA. Inshallah i hope she brings postive changes to the commitee and continues to help American Muslims.
No doubt they’ll be some folk who’ll cry in dismay about the fact that a woman is the leader of a muslim organisation. There is a hadith were the prophet s.a.w said, that a nation will not prosper under the leadership of a woman but in context, the hadith is talking about a woman being the Amir of nation/of the ummah. However i have seen so many muslims use this hadith and deny a woman the presidency (and other important positions) of an islamic society, muslim organisation, busniess, and any other sector you can think of. My own islamic society at university point blank refuses any women to be in the commitee (president, deputy, finance exc, spokesperson etc..) and sisters are bascially on fiddle to the brothers, who do less work and in many postions not the best candiate for the job, but still refuse a sister whos much better! Infact the sisters can’t even vote, we can’t run for a position or vote for what brother we want in the commitee, only the brothers can. And went the brothers are challenged, this is the hadith the draw up everytime.
So well done to Sister Ingrid for getting the job!!
ASA: I hope she does well. She seems to be a nice sister and this is a great start. Perhaps, one day a African American convert will lead a major orginization besides Mosque Cares.
The hadith about a nation with a women as its leader will never prosper is very very weak. No one says this ofcourse but it’s a seriously suspect hadith for many reasons.
1. It’s weak
2. The man who they attribute the hadith from actually faught in Ayesha (ra) army against Ali.
3. This hadith comes after that batter when he was tring to save his own tail.
4. This man is on record for lying before.
5. The hadith is illogical because before and after Islam conception there have been nations that were extremly successful, and prospered for many decades. Several African Queens with Queen Neffiteri being most popuar, Queen Elizabeth of England as well as several English Queens up to this point, Queen Ezabella of Spain, Several Chinese Empresses, Several African Queens (Queen Sheba for example), and the Anceint Aztecs had very poweful Queens at the head of thier nations.
6. It goes agaisnt the direct Ayats and spirit of Quran which mentions Queen Sheba in a possitive lite. The Quran doesn’t speak ill of her leadership at all in any way but only gives glad tidings about her.
Therefore the hadith can’t be true IMO and Allah SWT knows best. I wish that sisters you these points the next time you hear someone argues in favor of this foolishness.
Ma Salaama
Dr. Mattson is actually Canadian although she lives in the States with her family. She is as far as I can tell the first president of ISNA that was actually born in North America. Perhaps, this will be the beginning of a shift away from the generation of foreign born leaders.
I don’t know what qualifies as a major organization but I believe Madhi Bray an African American leads the Muslim American Society (MAS). The Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations (CCMO) in DC was started by an African American convert, Imam Johari AbdulMalik. And I believe the current president of CCMO is a female African American convert.
The hadith is not weak. I find it odd that you say that it is weak and then list as one of the reasons it is weak by saying that it is weak. What does that mean? And since you have taken it upon yourself to weaken the Hadith, may I kindly ask you for>
1. Those scholars of Hadith who have proceeded you in this ruling. And I dont mean those that are post colonial scholars.
2. If you have no precedent maybe you can present to us your scholarly qualifications in Hadith critisism, Isnads, Ilal, Jarh wa Tadil, etc.
As for your statement that the Hadith is false because we find women who were leaders and were indeed successful, this is completly subjective. One may argue that a women leader is or isnt successful based on their own ideas of what success is.
On another level, one might venture and say that this Hadith is speaking specifically to this Ummah and not previous nations. Allah knows best about that, however if that interpretation is given, then using examples of succsessful women rulers in the past before the Shariah would be invalid.
Another point worth mentioning is that this prosperity that is denied in the Hadith doesnt have to be merly a physical temporal one that is only visible in the life of this world. The Hadith could also indicate a moral decay in the society.
In my humble opinion, this Hadith has no bearing on the election of sister Ingrid, because that hadith has always been used as an evidence that being male is a condition for the Islamic ruler-not an Amirah of an independent organization.
That the Khalifah must be male is the postion of all of the four Sunni Madhhabs, the Jafari Madhhab, the Dhahiri Madhhab, nay the Ijma of the whole Ummah, and as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi was sallam said> my Ummah will not unite upon error.
Those who use this Hadith against sister Ingrid are not qualified to issue Fatwa, give Islamic rulings, or even qualify the Hadith. On a similar level, those who seek to cast doubt on the Hadith and what it actually means in classical sunni fiqh are equally without qualifications to give Fatwa or derive rulings from the primary texts.
was salam
ASA:
Sorry for the very late reply. I’m in NC right now. Anyway. I am not a “scholor” but I do study fiqh along with other things and will get a Injera in due time. I am a strong believer in the Injera system and believe in the horrors of logical deduction. I hold on strong to the rope of Allah SWT and not onto suspect sections of hadith. Even more so when they have only one chain of to them or the person who relayed the chain was lashed for lies.
I appologize for not mentioning in detail the exsact 3-4 hadiths thats people use to keep women in the basement where the’re only allowed to cook food for fund raisers. (j/k) Before i comment on the hadith in particular I wanted to quote Dr. Muhammad Sharif Chaudhury so that people may reflect.
“The Quran condemns in open and unambiguous terms the rule of Pharaoh of Egypt who was a man, but it does not express even a slight disapproval of the rule of the Queen of Sheba who was a woman. So it is not the sex of the ruler which is important, but it is in fact the nature and sprit of the rule which is significant. Circumstances may arise for the Muslim Ummah when the benevolent and democratic rule of a woman like Queen of Sheba may be preferable to the despotic and tyrannical rule of a man like Pharaoh of Egypt. Pages of history bear witness to the fact that women became rulers in the Muslim world like Razia, daughter of Sultan Iltutmash, in India in thirteenth century. Shajrat-ul-Darr, daughter of King Najam-ud-Din, in Egypt in thirteenth century, Chand Bibi in southern part of India in sixteenth century, Sutt-ul-Mulk, daughter of caliph Al-Aziz Billah, in Egypt in eleventh century A.D. and Queen Shahjahan Begum of Bhopal in India in early twentieth century. Their rule was never opposed by any of the well known ulama of their age, neither any of the contemporary jurists, scholars or leading ulama gave a Fatwa declaring their rule Haram (unlawful) on the basis of their sex. On the other hand, some ulama gave Fatwas to justify their rule, e.g., in case of Queen of Bhopal, Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi gave a Fatwa favoring her rule.”
Ok know those suspecct hadith that contridict Quran…
1st Hadith by Abi Bakra which states ‘a nation which entrusts its affairs with women cannot prosper’. I raised questions on the authenticity of this particular Hadith narrated by Abi Bakra. The scholars of Hadith have classified this Hadith as Ahad Hadith meaning Hadith whose authenticity is not beyond question and this Hadith is Zanni in nature meaning that the Hadith has no established interpretation and whatever interpretation is given will be of speculative in nature. Ahad Hadith is generally reported by single Companion of the Prophet which did not become well-known in immediate two or three generations, does not give positive knowledge, is of speculative authenticity and therefore fall under the category of speculative proofs. Moreover what is established by the Quran cannot be restricted or discarded by Ahad Hadith. Shaykh Taha Jabir Al-Alwani, President of The Fiqh Council of North America and Member of the OIC Islamic Fiqh Council is of the opinion that “the Sunnah is there to clarify the Quran, not to contradict or reject its basic principles” [Issues in Contemporary Islamic Thought, IIIT, U. S. A., 2005, p171]. Tirmizi has classified this Hadith as Hasan Sahih [Hadith No. 2262, Sunan Al Tirmizi, Al Jami Al Sahih, Tahqiq- Mahmud Muhammad Mahmud Hasan Nassar, Kitab Al Fitan, Dar Al Qutb Al Islamiah, Beirut, 2000, p 263]. Narrators of Hadith classified as Hasan Sahih are trustworthy but commit error and the content is not Qati or absolutely correct.
2 other favorite’s narrations of the Hadith - (i) ‘when your affairs are in the hands of women then the lap of the earth is better for you then the back of the earth’ and (ii) ‘when you see your leaders are immoral and wealthy people are misers and your affairs are entrusted with a woman then remember the lap of the earth is better then the back of the earth’. A closer examination of the aforementioned two narrations of Hadith reveals that both the narrations are English rendering of the same Hadith. Tirmizi has classified this Hadith narrated by Abu Huraira as Gharib, poor [Hadith No. 2266, Sunan Al Tirmizi, Al Jami Al Sahih, Tahqiq- Mahmud Muhammad Mahmud Hasan Nassar, Kitab Al Fitan, Dar Al Qutb Al Islamiah, Beirut, 2000, pp 264-265. Also see Muhammad Sharif Chaudhry, Women's Right in Islam, Adam Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi, 2003, p 167]. Such Hadith has been classified as Gharib, poor in whose chain of transmission at one stage the Hadith is reported by one single person only
The fourth Hadith is ‘men have been destroyed when they obeyed the woman’. Scholars have classified this Hadith narrated by Abi Bakra as Daif, weak [Ibn Adi, Kitab 'Al Kamil Fi Duafa', p 218/2. Also see http://www. dorar.net/mhadith.asp].Eminent commentator of Hadith Sheikh Muhammad Nasiruddin Albani also classified this Hadith as Daif, weak [Al Albani, Silsilatul Ahadith Daifa, p 76. Also see http://www. dorar.net/ mhadith.asp]. A Hadith is Daif, weak if among the reporters are any Majhul person, i.e. unknown person in terms of identity or conduct or if there is any Fasiq, violator of any important practice or any liar.
Eminent Islamic scholar Dr. Kaukab Siddique has put forward three arguments in justification that there is no Shariah bar of woman being the head of an Islamic state or the head of an Islamic government. Dr. Siddique referred that Hazrat Ayesha lead the Battle of Camel in which the Sahabas, the Companions of the Prophet followed her. Dr. Siddique dismissed the claim that ‘Ayesha believed she had violated the Quran by going to the Battle of Camel and that she cried when she thought of her mistake’ as being “weak and fabricated” [Dr.Kaukab Siddique, The Struggle of Muslim Women, American Society for Education and Religion, INC. 1983, p 46. Bengali tr. Muslim Nareer Sangram, Osder Publications, Dhaka, 2000, p 46]. The fact remains that Hazrat Ayesha was in leadership and nobody in the either camps objected to her leadership for being woman.
The Hadith Bukhari often quoted against the permissibility of women leadership is narrated by Abi Bakra, a Sahabi, Companion of the Prophet. The Hadith reads: ‘Usman ibn al-Haitham reports from Auf, who reports from al-Hasan, who reports from Abi Bakra, who said: In the time of Battle of the Camel, Allah benefited me from this saying: that when the Prophet, peace and blessings be on him, heard that the Persians have made the daughter of Chosroes their King, he (the Prophet) said: that nation will never prosper which puts a woman in command of its affairs [Sahih al Bukhari, Kitabal Fitn, quoted in The Struggle of Muslim Women, p 55. Bengali tr. Muslim Nareer Sangram, p 52]. Dr. Kaukab Siddique pointed out that “if we accept this Hadith as correct it would mean that … Companion of the Prophet quoted the Prophet as saying that a women’s leadership is rejected in Islam, and yet he fought under the command of a woman , and continued to support that woman till the end of his days” [The Struggle of Muslim Women, p 57. Bengali tr. Muslim Nareer Sangram, p 54].
Indian eminent Islamic scholar Muhammad Sharif Chaudhury wrote: “In fact there is no verse or injection in the Holy Quran which directly or clearly either permits the rule of woman or prohibits her rule. Similarly there is no Hadith or injunction of the Prophet (peace be upon him) which can be quoted to establish that the Holy Prophet either allowed the woman to become head of the state or government or disallowed and forbade her to assume such responsibilities. The Tradition of the Prophet Muhammad about Kisra’s daughter who was enthroned by the Persians, is believed by many to be unreliable and unauthentic as the reporter of this Tradition was convicted and punished in a case of Hudood and his evidence is not dependable. Thus we can safely and without fear of contradiction conclude that that the Quran and Sunnah neither permit nor forbid the woman’s rule” [Women's Right in Islam, p 175].
Dr. Kaukab Siddique commenting on verse 27: 23, 27: 32 and 27: 44 reiterated that “nowhere does the Quran imply and indicate that Bilqees gave up her rule over the land of Saba after she accepted Islam” [The Struggle of Muslim Women, p 56. Bengali tr. Muslim Nareer Sangram, p 53]. Mr. Mohammad Sakhi, however, quoting Islamic Encyclopedia and Tafsir Ruhul Mani tried to establish that she gave up power. But this is completely speculative as the Holy Quran is silent in this respect. Nor does the authentic Hadith say anything in the matter that the Queen of Sheba left the throne after accepting Islam. The general principle of Islam is that when the Quran and Sunnah do not specifically prohibit a thing or is silent in the matter, we have to take a positive look and consider that permissible and not prohibited anyway [Prof. Dr. Yusuf Al Qaradawi, The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam, American Trust Publications, U. S. A., p 14. Bengali tr. Islame Halal Haramer Bidhan, Khairun Prokashani, Dhaka, 1999, p 31].
The Government of Saudi Arabia in its Position Paper, highlighting the status, rights and role of the Muslim woman according to the basic sources of Islam, that was presented on the occasion of UN Conference on Woman, Beijing 1995 reiterated that “there is absolutely nothing in the Quran which directly or indirectly forbids a woman to become the head of a state, or even suggests that she is essentially incompetent for the position” [Woman and Family Life in Islam, World Assembly of Muslim Youth, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, First Edition 1995, p 34].
May Allau SWT bless and keep you all.
You have yet to show us who proceeded you from the scholars of Hadith who weakened the Hadith of Abu Bakrah. Saying that it is Ahad doesnt make it weak. The whole discussion of it being Qati or Dhanni is mute here because discarding an Ahad narration in favor of something else has to be proven. What I mean is that it must be shown who from the Imams of the four madhahib have preferred a clear Qiyas, a Fatwa from a Sahabi, the action of Ahlul Madinah, etc-over this narration that is Ahad.
I am afraid that if all you can present as your source for this is Ta Ha Jabir al Alwani (who gave a fatwa allowing american muslims to take part in military ops against the muslims in afghanistan), and Kawkab Siddiqi, then your arguement is not that strong.
was salam
The best way to stop something is not to talk about it. And the way to spread something is to do its tazkirah. So if we feel that this is inappropriate, lets just stop talking about it. If it indeed is a fitna , Allah will remove it.
Asalam,
hope all is well- I am not a scholar but i was reading this flow of discussion and had a thought. I strongly believe that a male in islam should lead his family- (most do not). I think a true head if doing his job right is a difficult job since your liable for so much. I think that a women should be strong and educated but not to compete with the head of her house but to strengthen him. If the head is unable to do his job due to accident or injury than the second in command should be ready to come up and protect the family and give direction. When I say “Lead” realize a true leader is one who has the respect of his followers! you cant force people to follow you for long on any other basis. If a leader becomes a dictator than like a ship there will be mutany- appropriate and equally a man must lead and have the respect of his family- The day he loses this his rule is in jepory and so is the peace of the organization or country he leads.
I dont believe that second in command should be fighting for power or trying to lead (her) own way. If anything I think a society where a women is elected as head of a country or organization is signs of its weakness as a socity and shows negatively upon its capable male citizens ( that not one capable man is present to lead -hence leading to this state of situation)
I know many of you will say Im totally off about this stuff but- look at western society and you will see what i am talking about in living color. I believe women should be proud of being a women and a man proud of being a man- its like the story of the apple and orange- No one would say they are the same but rather Equally beautiful in thier own right and creation. 786
Azam F.
Alkashif is SPOT ON in his comments. The hadith is in Bukhari, for Allah’s sake, before commenting on it, think twice about who you are commenting on! If you want to quote a scholar, quote someone who is a KNOWN muhadith, because he better be a scholar of the highest ranks before he can do takhreej of Bukhari.
The other point that Alkashif made, and I would like to re-emphasize… the hadith is more specifically in reference to Khalifa. Not to the leader of MSA, or other Muslim organizations. That is the point of discussion, NOT the hadith itself.
Sister Ingrid is a capable Muslimah, her demeanor, her dress, and her manners are all impeccable. She is in a challenging spot… may Allah help her to achieve the best for His sake.
As-salamu ‘alaykum,
As far as I know, she’s the first: convert, woman and non-immigrant to be the President of ISNA. Also, I think she’s (originally) a Canadian, not an American.
My two cents worth is…she’s an excellent choice. It’s not like they’ve selected her to be the Khalifa or Grand Mufti which, on the surface, might seem to conflict with some hadith. However, as far as a choice to lead ISNA, I can’t think of a better one than her…wa Allahu ‘alim.
The Hadeeth weak and it is in Saheeh Al Bukhari?? That is madness