A Prima Facie Case of Gender Based Violence in Islam? Voices from the Minbars of Accra

Abstract

Imams play multiple roles in Muslim societies and through the minbar preach various aspects of Islam, including the religion’s abhorrence for violence both in public and private spaces. In the family space, the Qur’an expects marital harmony based on “mercy, love and tranquillity.” Paradoxically, the Qawama verse with its associated interpretive tensions, and to which Muslim men source their authority permits wife “beating” and conflicts with the general principle of peace espoused by the Qur’an. This then raises the question: Is there a prima facie case of Gender-Based Violence in the Qur’an? Imams as celebrants of marriage and arbiters in marital disputes are entangled with the verse, and their understanding of it informs both teaching and practice thereof. I argue in this paper that whilst Imams display intuitive discomfort with the issue of “beating,” they are defensive of the verse and fail to critically interrogate the text. Using mainly narratives of selected imams/scholars in the Accra metropolis, this paper seeks to analyse how Imams appropriate the verse in their practice and the challenges thereof.