The western academy can be a wonderful place to learn but it doesn’t come without its pitfalls. Many who venture in, or even dabble their toes in the water, end up reprogrammed with a number of interpretive viruses. One of those is the inability to see the world through any other

lens than that of power. Postmodernism’s methodology is axiomatic on seeing power structures and hierarchies and seeks to not merely deconstruct them but to tear them down and ultimately supplant them with its own (a)moral authority.

My recent post about patriarchy is a perfect example of that. Unrelated conclusions were drawn between patriarchy (systems in which men have authority to varying degrees) and slavery, all in an attempt to emotionally blackmail one’s opponent due to the horrific

and traumatic history of slavery. But patriarchy is not slavery, most certainly not as we mean it as was materialized in the transatlantic slave trade. To say that patriarchy has resulted in the same loss of life as that form of slavery is a gross exaggeration and an obvious

attempt to win an argument. To say that patriarchy can, and has been, tyrannical, is obvious and requires no defense. However, and to the crux of my point, patriarchy needn’t intrinsically be tyrannical and, if the proper bounds are placed around it, can actually be a good thing.

My invoking of Qur’anic verses which point to and establish men’s role is, in my opinion, an example of beneficial patriarchy. This seems to have offened those who have been socialized into accepting a postmodern worldview, or more specifically a post-structuralist worldview,

where there are no longer any hierarchies in Islam. A comprehensive reading of the Qur’an, and life of the Prophet, completely refutes the claim of a non-hierarchical world according to Islam.

Such absurdities have led unnecessary conflicts between Muslim men and women today. One of these has been the artificial competition between men and women in the Muslim community for power. All too often I see Muslim women who seek empowerment, not through the ways and channels

articulated and suggested by Revelation, but by seeking to have what men have and do what men do. And while their is undoubtedly overlap between men and women, hence the verse,

إن أكرمكم عند الله أتقاكم

“Certainly the most noble of you (men and women) in the Sight of God are the most pious” — Qur’an 49: 13

Islam unquestionably advocates for men to have societal positions of authority. This, however, does not make men the kings of women nor their uncontested rulers. In here lies the issue I think, in that postmodernism/post-structuralism not only sees the world through the exclusive

lens of power, but also through a totalizing one as well. In other words, men having social authority, regardless of how limited that scope may be, is seen as men having ALL/TOTAL power and control. So long as these conflation is perpetuated in the minds of Muslims today

we will find it difficult to actualize the genius of Islam, as all of our talents and faculties will be employed by systems of thought whose very reason for being is to tear down belief systems.