Women's Q&A

• Bloomington, IN

• May 30, 1976

Page from notes taken during a Q&A with Egyptian Islamic scholar, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, live translation by Dr. Jamal Badawi, at the 1976 MSA convention.

Notes: I have the recording of this session. Questions included: Can a woman be an imam of salat? Why can't a woman lead a nation? Why do you need two female witnesses for one male witness? The women in attendance were not exactly buying the primary assertion behind all the answers to those questions: men were more rational than women. Listening to the session was both validating and frustrating for me. Validating because their questions match those made in my generation around the issue of gender equality and equity in Muslim communities. Frustrating because the majority of mainstream scholarly answers, then and now, lack rigor and sophistication.