(SEMINAR) IMPACT OF WALIMA PREACHING TO THE LIFE OF WOMEN IN ISLAM

1.1 Introduction

Religious authority in Islam, similar to other religions, has mostly been held by men. Throughout most of Islamic history, women were excluded from mosques and other religious spaces. This has hindered their ability to gain Islamic knowledge and authority (Kalmbach 2012), despite the fact that women's religious authority is legitimate under Islamic law (Kloos and Künkler 2016). However, despite all the efforts to exclude women from religious authority, Muslim women have not been completely excluded from the learning and transmission of Islamic knowledge. They have often shown the capability to implement Islamic authority and have occupied various religious roles which challenge Islamic gender norms (Kalmbach 2008).

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Creator, the Sustainer and the Cherisher. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), his house hold, his companions and those who follow their steps till the day of reckoning. Primarily, Nupe people are predominantly Muslims with a few Christians. Although before the introduction of Islam to Nupe people, they were followers of Traditional religion.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

Over the last few decades, there has been greater participation among women in Islamic education and knowledge, globally speaking (Liberatore 2019). Women with substantial, recognised religious education finally have access to career paths that have long been allocated to male scholars (Kalmbach 2012). As Kalmbach (2012) highlighted, this significant increase represents a main change in the structures of Islamic authority and restricts male control of religious leadership. It has also been followed by global discussions on gender equality and female empowerment that have created greater debate about Muslim women and leadership (Liberatore 2019).

Muslim women's religious leadership roles in contemporary religious spaces in both Muslim and Western countries are contested. A number of studies acknowledge Mus- lim women's exclusion from mosques and the decision-making roles in religious spaces (Ghafournia 2020; Nyhagen 2019; Woodlock 2010a, 2010b). Muslim women's views on women's access to religious authority deserve specific scholarly attention. In particular, research on the topic in Australia is very limited. Largely missing from the literature is the analysis of the growing acceptance of women's leadership roles within religious spaces that have traditionally excluded or marginalised them. This research tries to open the discussion for a group of Muslim women to express their views on female religious authority and leadership roles, particularly in mosques. Informed by online written interviews with twenty Muslim women who are the members of three Australian Muslim online Facebook groups, this article delineates how these Muslim women perceive and engage in leadership roles, as well as how they support or challenge the patriarchal gender norms in religious authority, particularly in mosques.

However, despite these changes, Muslim women's authority does not go beyond female-only spaces such as female-only congregations (Fazaeli 2020). Historically, those Muslim women who held religious authority or were preachers and interpreters of the Quran remain largely unknown, and religious scholarship has hardly documented their activities (Fazaeli 2020). As Noor (2017) suggests, the reason for the unfamiliarity among Muslims with female Islamic scholarship is because it has not been documented sufficiently. Furthermore, female scholars were marginalised by the patriarchal structure of Islamic scholarship in the later periods of Islam (Noor 2017).

In line with these scholarly works, women from different religious backgrounds have also questioned the patriarchy by holding positions of religious leadership. They navigated various roles, from providing informal religious advice in home-based settings to developing alternative pathways that were more women-friendly and inclusive. Despite these efforts, different religious traditions still utilise theological arguments to justify the male monopoly of religious leadership roles (Hoel 2013).

Religious authority, as defined by Hammer (2012a), Bano and Kalmbach (2012), can include ritual/spiritual leadership as well as the provision of religious advice. Religious authority has various sources in Muslim communities. For example, the Quran talks about scriptural authority, as Muslims believe it offers divine direction for humanity. Prophets are charismatic human authorities who have a distinctive relationship with the divine. Different forms of religious authority originated from various sources, experiences and knowledge that describe the Islamic tradition. These diverse forms of leadership have also been shaped by various traditions and cultures across centuries and geographic spaces (Jalalzai 2021).

In particular, the exclusion of women from religious authority is linked closely to the Islamic understanding of gender. The Islamic notion of gender varies based on geographical and historical contexts, but the majority of Muslim traditional scholars believe that women are prohibited from religious leadership due to their presumed deficiencies in crucial authoritative qualities such as reason and wisdom. They believe that these are qualities with which men are naturally equipped (Jalalzai 2021). Therefore, various forms of leadership should be considered as part of a broader gender equality agenda (Duderija and Rane 2019).

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impact of Walima Preaching to the Life of Women in Islam.

1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that many issues such as a lack of specialists among women, the limitation in women's skills and efficiency, negligence of their opportunities, the misunderstanding of non-Muslims about Muslim women that they are reactionary thinkers, losing the best guidance of Muslim women to the next generation, and the decline among Muslim women in knowledge related to research. The problems related to preaching during Walima include challenges among women and preachers, the reason behind preaching during walima and whether women benefit from preaching and the factors affecting preaching during Walima on the life of Muslim women in Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Impact of Walima Preaching to the Life of Women in Islam using Ngala Local Government Area in Borno State as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To identify the factors influencing Muslim women's preaching reluctance in Ngala Local Government Area;
2. To examine the relationship between Islam, gender and religious authority, as well as the initiation of female Imams; and
3. To investigate the highly influencing challenges which cause reluctance of Muslim women towards preaching during Walima to the Life of Muslim Women in Ngala Local Government Area.

1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What are the factors influencing Muslim women's preaching reluctance in Ngala Local Government Area?
• What is the relationship between Islam, gender and religious authority, as well as the initiation of female Imams?
• What is the highly influencing challenges which cause reluctance of Muslim women towards preaching during Walima to the Life of Muslim Women in Ngala Local Government Area?

1.6 Significance of Study

This study will be of immense benefit to researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

1.7 Scope of the Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Impact of Walima Preaching to the Life of Women in Islam using Ngala Local Government Area in Borno State as a case study.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).