Sometimes the textual evidence is a bit scant, which leads to strenuous conclusions, such as the uncritical citation of the work of Dr. Asma Barlas (2002). Barlas claimed that the Qur'an is egalitarian and anti-patriarchal. Dr. Taneja also entertains this notion by quoting the parts where Barlas notes that the Prophet Muhammad was not the father to any men but a daughter. The life of the Prophet happened as such, and some Muslims use the narratives to productively help them understand the text in their own times. (The gender question has again taken the mainstream news with the Taliban preventing women from attending schools in 2021.)
I also accepted the genealogy of Muhammad--noble father to a noble daughter-- as suitably prescriptive in modern times for many years, until I read David S. Powers' book Muḥammad Is Not the Father of Any of Your Men: The Making of the Last Prophet. In the book, Powers showed that the Muhammad's adopted son, Zayd, was disowned. Zayd's recorded response to Muhammad's renunciation that he is not his son was affirmative:
"I am Zayd bin Haritha (زَيْد ٱبْن حَارِثَة),"
"Haritha" being his birth father's name. Readers also learn in Powers' book that Zayd was a former slave. It is interesting that the question of paternity continue to haunt the lives of ex-slaves even to this day. If Zayd was born during Malcom X's time, perhaps he would have renamed himself as Zayd X. And perhaps his response to the renunciation would have been different if his circumstances were different. But Zayd still had several progeny from his marriages with many wives. So the patriarchal genealogy continues through bin Haritha--despite the fact that Zayd chose to recover his name before enslavement after his adopted father Muhammad renounced their relationship, which was crucial to freeing him from slavery. Luckily for Zayd, the renunciation did not subjugate him to slavery again. If I did not read Powers' book, I would continue to grapple with Barlas' argument and the baffling extent to which patriarchal relations exist throughout the Muslim world. While some men are choosing to use their
kunya with their daughters' names as a progressive move now, daughters continue to be identified within their patriline, as a person of a Muslim background noted in her essay for Sumou mag.
https://www.sumoumag.com/read/names"Last year, I decided to get my maternal lineage tattooed on my right arm—and through that, I will carry with me four generations of strong women who have given life to that tree but whose names, voices, and histories have been brushed away and made invisible. But I see you, now everyone sees you, and you will never be forgotten."
- Mneera
It is also interesting that in South Asia where caste is usually identifiable with one's last name, the practice of using one's father's name as a last name can replace the caste hierarchy of last names with a gendered hierarchy. This is usually done by some South Asian Muslims who converted in the past two hundred years. "Khan," once a marker of Mongol heritage, has been sufficiently localized into a South Asian patriarchal and casteist identity.
According to the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, this is the first Mongol Khanate coin that bears the name of Allah, a significant step for the Islamization of Asia--
Dirham - "Ilkhan" Hulagu Khan
© Altaycoin
Obverse
La ilah illa allah
muhammad rasul allah
salla allah 'alayhi
Reverse
Qaan
al-a'zam
mongke qaan
hulagu
khan
In conclusion, I am slightly disappointed with the sweeping idealizations in this otherwise rich book by Dr. Taneja. If we are to inherit the rich past, it must be done with caution since much of the past is entangled with relations of slavery.
