Research Associate Rahina Muazu on the 'Female Voice in the Qur'an'

Rahina Muazu is Visiting Lecturer on Women's Studies and Islam and an HDS WSRP Research Associate for 2021–22. This semester, she is teaching the course, "Gender, Islam and Debates surrounding Female Vocal Nudity in West Africa (Nigeria and Niger)."

A scholar of Islam and a research associate at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient Berlin, Rahina's forthcoming book, "Qur’an Recitation and the Nudity of the Female Voice in Nigeria," looks at the debates surrounding the female voice, vocal nudity, and public space in Nigeria.

Using gender as an analytical category, Rahina’s research plans an exegetical hermeneutical study of the Qur’anic verse 33:32 to find out the position of the female voice and how it is interpreted in the West African Hausa society.

Drawing on extensive field work, her project makes a valuable and new contribution to women’s studies by both engaging the lived experiences of Black West African Muslims and by contributing to debates on women’s vocal nudity and women’s perception. 

Below, Rahina discusses her year-long research project at the WSRP, titled, "The Female Voice in the Qur'an and Qur'an Commentary: Rereading verse 33:32 from a Gender Perspective." 

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I am working with the idea that the female voice is part of her nakedness, or 'awra—a notion both theological and social in its unpacking. In Northern Nigeria, where I am from, even though the female voice is prevalent through Qur’an recitation competitions, some believe that the voice of a woman is part of her nudity and should be covered.

Covering the voice means taking the voice out of the public space. A woman is discouraged from speaking, for example, at a public, mixed-gender event, she shouldn’t sing; she shouldn’t recite the Qur’an; and she shouldn’t give public lectures. I'm looking at how these theological positions influence the societal perceptions of women and their voices, and how this directly affects their lives.

Most of the work that’s been done in this area of scholarship is more anthropologically focused rather than theological. I see a lacking in this. I believe there are changes to be made around the way women live and how they are treated and perceived. Since the society is largely Islamic, I believe these changes must come by way of religion.

I have been conducting fieldwork in my community, particularly in the cities of Jos and Kano, since 2011. My ethnographic process includes conducting interviews with both men and women; I also observe and actively participate in women circles reciting the Qur’an. I include my own experiences as a reciter of the Qur’an. The female voice in Qur’an recitation is part of the “public presence” that some believe women should remove their voices from. I have an advantage in a way, being an insider, in that I have easy access to information. There are things I just know from living within the community.

We do have a few women who come to research in Northern Nigeria, but they are usually outsiders and white, mostly European, or American. You hardly ever come across someone from within the community doing such research. But it's also very challenging as "an insider."

There are many gender dynamics present in my fieldwork that are more challenging to navigate because I am a woman. Sometimes I go to interview male scholars or male preachers, and I find myself sitting on the floor, kneeling, or folding my legs for hours. Being a woman, they expect me to respect them in a certain way. Often, I am unable to follow up properly on some questions because it might be regarded disrespectful.

At the same time, I am also perceived as an outsider—even as a threat—because I did my doctoral research in a European university. Studying Islam in a non-Muslim majority context draws suspicion, sometimes a rationally and historically justified one due to histories of orientalism and colonialism.

I come from the city Jos. Compared to other Nigerian cities, it's a small city. We have a population of about a million people. Based on my knowledge, I'm the first to leave there and go for a PhD in Islamic Studies in a European university. So, it draws a lot of attention, and sometimes negative reactions.

Generally, there's this perception amongst people in Northern Nigeria that if you talk about women's rights—I mean anything involving women and Islam—then it's feminist in nature and feminists are often perceived as heretics. This perception makes the scholarship I do very difficult and even dangerous. That's the kind of thinking I am trying to counteract in my work, but the consequences are not at all theoretical.

There are positive aspects, too, of course. Because of my childhood, my life experiences, I am so passionate about women's education, young girls' education. I am so motivated to make change. It's part of me. This scholarship is what I was called to do, even if it's gotten me into a lot of trouble.

In many ways, I am so happy I'm doing what I'm doing and that I'm able, as a woman, to revisit these theological sources from a woman's perspective. My research involves reading the Qur’an and Muslim jurisprudence to understand their perspective on the female voice as 'awra, and I am studying the different ways in which the "female voice" appears in the Qur’an. This is a very empowering process.

I’m working on two different books right now. In my more “academic” book, there’s much more of a theoretical bent, and I am hoping to further conversation in the field. There are works, very important ones, like Amina Wadud's Qur’an and Woman. There are also other works dealing with Muslim women and gender, but most of these works are not on Black Muslim women in West Africa specifically.

And even the important works on Africa, Islam, and women are not exactly theological and are mostly written by outsiders. I want my work to begin a new conversation around the notion of the 'awra of the voice and its effect on the lives of women. I want it to deepen conversation on the Muslim legal concept of space, which I call the ghayr mahram space. A gendered space in which what matters is not where the space is but who is in the space. It is, theologically speaking, the space in which the "seductive" female voice should not be publicized.

I’m also working on my autobiography wherein I'm taking the theology and trying to rewrite it in very simple language to pass the information along to other women in ways which anyone can absorb. This knowledge empowers me, and I hope it will empower others.

With the autobiography, I want to lead women into being considered, in my community, as full independent individuals. What's important to me is not necessarily that the society or men start considering women as such, but that women start seeing themselves fully as individuals.

I'm humbled. I'm grateful that I'm doing what I'm doing. I hope it will turn out to be as useful, or even more useful than what I envision it to be.

Interview conducted and edited by Madeline Bugeau-Heartt