WOMEN AND ISLAM IN BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINIAN SOCIETY

One issue that has been particularly polarising between the Salafi and progressive Bosniaks is the status of woman and their position in society with regards to Shari’ah law. Janet Afary considers that this is a common disparity between many of the schools of jurisprudence as women play ‘a vital role in the (re)-construction of Muslim religio-cultural identity’.^[1452] It is therefore an appropriate litmus test in gauging the nature of Islam in the Balkans.

Bosnia and Hercegovina’s Muslim community maintains that the traditional Islamic perception of female gender and sexuality is socio­culturally contingent.^[1456] Thus, they reject the classical view of feminine sexuality and moral corruptibility.

Amra BabiC’s election as mayor of the small town of Visoko in 2012 made her perhaps the first European mayor to wear the hijab. This raised the ire of conservative adherents to Islam who consider the participation of women in the public sphere as resentful, provocative and offensive. The verse ‘[a]nd stay in your houses’^[1458] is but one example of evidence on which these conservatives rely. However, most Bosniaks are uncon­vinced. They point to the fact that women led a very active social life during the early Muslim community in Medina, frequently appearing in public and attending the mosque. Their unwavering insistence on female social involvement is (like many things) tied to the Bosniak past, where under Tito’s administration women were given complete civil and polit­ical rights as well as access to Islamic educational institutions (madrasas) and prominent leadership positions.^[1459] In evidence of their social commit­ment to this cause, the Bosnia and Hercegovinian government passed a law in 2001 requiring 33 per cent of election candidates to be female.^[1460] In Bosnia, women are considered autonomous beings with an equal standing to men.

The media surrounding Amra Babic’s rise to power has provided a rare insight into the position of women in Bosnian society. Most of all, it has begun to challenge the perception that the veil is a repressive practice that is incompatible with moderate Islam. Many Bosnian Muslims contend that the reintroduction of the veil after its prohibition under Tito represents a resurgence of moderate religious practice as a counter­balance to the conservative forms applied by the rural Salafi.^[1462] While the majority of Muslim women continue not to wear the veil regularly, some have adopted it as a means of openly professing their faith. However, it remains an individual choice. An attempt by the Islamic Community to implement a dress code in its offices requiring women to cover their hair and body except for the face, hands and feet was met with opposition by many female employees. Consequently, the community has not vehe­mently stood by its religious policy, perhaps conceding that Islam must find its place in Bosnia’s emerging cultural identity.^[1463] Yet the demise of some traditional Islamic practices does not of itself represent an apostate society. The numerous Bosnian language periodicals and websites, which distribute fatwas and religious opinions to the Balkan community, demonstrate that Shari’ah continues to have relevance for Muslims living in a secular state. As under Socialism, Shari’ah endures as an ethical code of behaviour for the Bosniaks, while also acting as a set of criteria for the evaluation of secular laws and dominant social principles.^[1464] The absence of Shari’ah courts to enforce religious rules has not prevented Muslim citizens from observing an underlying ethical and religious code.

Marriage is an exquisite example of this. While Bosnian law does not allow for a Shari’ah marriage by itself to be valid, it does provide that religious marriages can be conducted after the civil marriage. The fact that many couples are returning to this practice is an evident illustration of how Shari’ah law may exist alongside democratic and secular insti­tutions. Duderija writes that this progressive Islam is difficult to charac­terise: ‘it is not a school of thought as it is more than a systematic theory of interpretation of the entire Muslim law, theology, ethics, and politics. It is at best a practice, a package of loyalties and commitments, a work in progress.’^[1465] Based on this synopsis, progressive Islam is a living religion. It is capable of cohabiting with secular institutions while continuing to evolve through study, debate and social change.

The broader issue of marriage is also a subject of debate in Bosnia and Hercegovina. At the end of the socialist reign and revival of religion, over 25 per cent of all marriages in Bosnia were between mixed ethnicities, and therefore mixed faiths. A number of senior leaders spoke out as representatives of the Islamic Community against this practice, con­demning it as a ‘betrayal of one’s faith and culture’.^[1466] This argument has a religious grounding. In Islam, it is generally agreed that a Muslim woman is prohibited from marrying a non-Muslim man. The basis for this is the Sura Baqarah, which states ‘nor marry (your girls) to unbelievers until they believe’.^[1467] While some adherents consider men to equally be bound by this condition, other verses in the Qur’an are often thought to permit men to marry from among the ‘People of the Book’.^[1468] Children are put forward as the primary justification for this gender inequity. Since, under Islamic law, the children of an interfaith marriage will be Muslim, it has traditionally been thought that a Muslim woman is not individually equipped to raise them in accordance with her faith.^[1469]

Similarly to discussion on the veil, some Bosniaks consider that the above Qur’anic passage must be read in light of its historical context.

Whether or not Bosniak women choose to marry within their faith, more and more have the opportunity and capacity to provide spiritual instruction to their children. Today, Bosniak women are exposed to religious education through the madrasas (which operate very similar to a private high school supervised by the Ministry of Education). As with many of the unique aspects of Bosnian religion, this theological empowerment stems back to the rights obtained during the socialist years.^[1472] However, in spite of this exposure, few female graduates of the madrasas have gone on to higher religious education at the Faculty of Islamic Sciences in Sarajevo. Instead, these educated women mostly gravitate towards roles in the schooling system or small associations and networks.^[1473]

This observation is not meant to demean or devalue the importance of Bosnian women in these occupations. The fact that women can interpret the Qur’an and take theological stands is a recent and commendable step forward. However, by not advancing towards higher education, women do not attain the influential roles and prominence in which to make their voice publicly heard (of course there is a strong argument that women would not receive these opportunities irrespective of their training).

The place of women in Islamic societies is often denounced by the West on the grounds of human rights and gender equality. It is therefore no surprise that a nation that purports to share these Western values observes Islam in a distinct way. Generally speaking, Bosnian women are afforded the right to express their faith individually and better acquaint themselves with religious texts and teachings. By virtue of their cultural history, they are actively aware that their world is not defined by simple right or wrong answers. To this end, it is through questioning and reflecting that these women seek personal spiritual guidance. Armed with these tools, they are continuing to develop the composition of ‘European Islam’.

VI.