Introduction
“What does ‘When a woman is a man on the path of the lord Most High, she cannot be called a woman’ mean? (Rabi’a)”
The statement above leads one to delve into the problem of gender issues in Sufism. Specifically, the assumption that a woman has to be called a man at some point in her spiritual transformation suggests that, to reach a particular stage of enlightenment, she will need the agency of a man. The specified statement questions whether reaching a particular stage of enlightenment means denying one’s womanhood. While insightfulness and wisdom are not denied to women, there is a certain threshold that women cannot overcome when it comes to gaining a specific status in their spiritual growth. Therefore, the statement by Rabi’a outlines the inherently patriarchal nature of Sufism and the gender-related constraints that it imposes on women. Arguably, the statement above leads to the assumption that women are denied not only specific virtues but also the associated sins. However, it also deprives women of agency, which relegates them to a lower status in the Sufism hierarchy.
Response to the Classmate
“If she is alone in the desert, how does the narrator come to know of the conversation?”
The question that you ask is quite peculiar and admittedly important for the examining the role of self in the context of Sufism, simultaneously contemplating the issue of confidentiality of the dialogue between a believer and God. Namely, the specified premise implies two immediate assumptions, each leading to a contradiction. If it is implicitly suggested that a woman tells the narrator about her communication with God, the breach of the confidentiality of a prayer is evident. However, if a woman does not disclose her prayer to anyone, the narrator cannot possibly know about the dialogue having taken place. Arguably, the public-versus-private theme can be addressed by giving a woman the freedom to communicate and the right to be trusted without the need to confide in someone to disclose her communication with God.