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Dear Ms Nordin,
Perhaps you will read this, perhaps its too late as its now august 2012.
I enjoyed your article. Before I read the article I was aware of the Prophets (PBUH) wives possessing great intellect and knowledge, but I was not aware of the countless other female scholars and of their contributions to Islam.
I wonder if today there existed an internationally recognised educational system in place in the UK organised by the Islamic Scholars of the UK whereby the average ‘tom-dick-harry’ young woman could easily access or enrol on to this vast available knowledge in order to raise a new generation of Gold Standard Female Islamic Scholars.
I believe in the 21st century It is not simply acceptable (in my opinion) for a young female to have to leave the UK and jet to jordan, emigrate to Egypt or settle in Syria (whilst its obviously admirable to have done so) in order to gain authentic worldly recognised knowledge on Hadith, Fikh etc or compete with the masses to enrol on to a prestigious University to gain access to privileged resources .. Somehow I don’t accept women’s only classes at the local mosque where sitting on the floor for hours listening to sermons/lectures amounts to anything albeit aching legs and a distance memory of how the women is a childs first education – well how do we educate if we are not properly reared ourselves. Yes I applaud lectures/conferences held on university campuses offering the ‘experience’ of being in the company of Scholars. Whilst this may be inspiring for some folks I hardly think its enough to support the spark for a will to embark on a course that allows scholarly development.
Perhaps I am unaware of the institutions that offer such high calibre teachings of Islam in the UK, but then maybe therein lies my point.. If the average young ‘working class’ British woman is not aware of the channels for her potential to become a Scholar how will any be reared in Britain? Are we not a leading country of education that we still have to resort to a corner room in a mosque near bathrooms and filled with screaming children and even then when we manage to grab a sq inch of floor space we sit with pins and needles whilst we strain to listen over gossip and giggles to a scratchy stereo speaker which makes me feel like I’ve just walked back into the 90s.
I wonder if as a student there was more than just the choice of a ‘parent approved’ degree, a ‘drop-out-school’ job or an apprenticeship or what have you… I remember flicking through Islamic Studies as a subject of study in Prospectuses.. but thats my point .. I ‘flicked through’ but was not advised or attracted enough to take the subject on seriously enough only to find 7 years later ‘hay presto’ I am (alhamdulillah nevertheless) a Dentist and although I enjoy my flair for it.. in hind sight perhaps a niggling ever surfacing passion for Islam was overlooked (?)
I wonder if it would be feasible for the great Mosque establishments of our country to consider offering Islamic Studies on a diploma or dare I say degree level for their local muslim communities on a part time/full time basis? and perhaps Scholars could take out some valuable ‘dawaah’ time and teach their own? I wonder how the Imams would take that when discussed at the next AGM or would it not be taken seriously.. Must we all grow beards and début on Peace TV/Islam Channel (both of whose work I most ardently admire so please don’t misunderstand I am not trying to criticise the Scholars or Students of Islam) of today before we gain right of passage into the world of Scholars? I wonder.
These are just a passer-by’s thoughts. I wonder if you or anyone else would agree/disagree.
Yours Sincerely,
Maryam.