Zawaya

Women have an accessory role in religious education in the Maghreb

By: Nabila Saidoune

Traditionally, the transmission of religious culture in Muslim societies is the responsibility of men. Whether they are supported by brotherhood or depend on the mission of the State, the religious training of children and young people and decisions regarding religion in general is carried by male scholars.

The model of Qur’anic teachers, just like official imams, refers to the types of legitimacy advocated by religion: the mastery of religious science, the birthright and the preponderance of men over women.

This image of the holy and wise old man as a legitimate tutor, was challenged by the progressive radicalization of religious activism. Young aggressive preachers filled with dogmatic certitudes, all across the Maghreb, have jostled old imams that they think are too conciliatory with the profane practices that alter the strictness of worship.

Traditional teaching methods that have so far surrounded the religious training of many generations are shaken by the militant activism of associations and currents that are more politicized. The State has taken away from them the mission of religious education at the mosque by appointing imams as officials, and at school by appointing the teachers in charge of religious instruction classes. It is at school, where coeducation is not contested for younger classes, especially in primary education, that teaching religious precepts is sometimes carried out by women. What remains is to evaluate the effect of women’s participation in religious education at schools.

In Algeria, the Ministry of Religious Affairs has come up with an innovation by training “mourchidates” (preachers), who transmit religious teaching to women in society. This innovation does not reflect sexual equality in terms of acces to the imam’s profession, but it aims at making women available to the official religious orientation, since it is transmitted by other women.

The “mourchida” is a practical medium between a worship that’s globally designed by men, and women whose religion restricts direct contact with men. This does not quite grant “a more active role to women in religious education”; it is an approach that allows better access to women’s conscience within an approach of a “religion of the State”.

The whole society is patriarchal; it is men who are in charge of defending the religious standard through institutions, in society and even within families. Any changes in the air? Not right now…