Crossing the Rubicon in Toledo, Ohio The Islamic Center of greater Toledo in Perrysburg, Ohio has just elected Cherrefe Kadri, a woman, as its new president. This is the first time in America and perhaps the first time anywhere that a Muslim woman had been elected to lead an Islamic organization. Considering the unique and progressive history of this particular Center, it should not come as a surprise.
The first Muslims to Toledo area came from Syria and Lebanon in the early part of the 19th century. They were part of the first wave of Muslim immigration following the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.
Those mostly uneducated peasants brought with them the liberal and relaxed version of Islam that is still practiced in parts of the rural Middle East. In the early 1950's they built a mosque, one of the first in North America, near Down Town Toledo. Their women were part of the planning and building of the mosque and after it was built, the women took part in the running of the mosque. Their involvement went further than just running the kitchen or organizing social events, roles usually assigned to women in other Islamic Centers and for that matter in many churches. In Toledo women have been elected to serve on the 13-member Council and its executive committee that is responsible for running the Center. Traditionally a woman has also served on the all-powerful Board of Elders.
In 1982 the Muslim community of Toledo built a much larger new center just outside Toledo in Perrysburg, Ohio. The $ 4 million Center was built according to the classical Islamic architecture and its signature building has become synonymous with the presence of a progressive Islam in America. The new Center has been profiled by The New York Times, USA Today and Time magazine among other publications not only for its striking building but also for its progressive philosophy in which women play an important pivotal role.
The path to breaking down the last hurdle to the presidency was not easy. It was strewn with uncertainty and blocked by deeply entrenched traditions. 'At every cross road that leads to the future,' wrote Maurice Maeterlinck, the Belgian playwright and a Nobel laureate in 1907, 'tradition has placed against each one of us ten thousand men to guard the past.' How true indeed!
The traditions in this case are based on the narrow interpretation of the Qur'an with a liberal sprinkling of cultural biases. Whereas Islam had granted a woman the right to inherit property, the right to choose her husband or to divorce one, cultural traditions disguised as religious dictates have denied them those rights in many Muslim countries. It is true of electing women to responsible positions in the Islamic centers or other religious organizations.
When challenged about their suffocating attitudes about women, the traditionalists always hide behind certain verses of the Qur'an, particularly the much quoted verses from Sura Alnisa (4:34) which when taken literally and out of context, appear to subjugate women to the will of man. But when interpreted in the light of privileges given to women by the Qur'an and the practices of Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of God be with him, they have a different meaning. It is the same restrictive interpretation of the scripture that permits the Taliban of Afghanistan to banish their women from the public life or allow the fundamentalist Muslims the world over to keep their women on a very short leash. Somehow they conveniently forget that Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, led armies in battle and was accepted as an authority on religious interpretations.
The Islamic Center has also been fortunate to have the guidance of two very learned and progressive religious scholars. Imam A. M. Khattab who retired in 1998 after leading the center for 20-years and his successor Imam Farooq Abo-Elzahab, are both Al Azhar graduates and are well versed with the challenges the Muslims face in the West. They have not hesitated to use the long abandoned tool of ijtehad to interpret Islam according to current times. Their progressive thinking in areas of investment banking, mortgage, scientific calculations to moon sightings for religious holidays, Islamic dress, interfaith dialogue and a host of other issues have been enlightening. To their credit they have stood ground in the face of much opposition.
Cherrefe Kadri, the new president of the Center, grew up in that milieu.
A Lebanese second generation Muslim, she has been part of the Muslim community and the Islamic Center since her birth. A law graduate of the University of Toledo and a practicing lawyer, Cherrefe Kadri has taught Sunday school, directed the Center's weekend school, organized summer programs for the youth, edited bimonthly magazine of the Center and has served as secretary and vice president of the Executive Committee of the Center. Most recently she has served on the feasibility committee for a full-time Islamic school at the Center. The school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2001. If there is a job to be done at the Islamic Center, chances are Cherrefe has done it and has done it well. And yes she also takes turns, along with other men and women at the Center, to work in the kitchen and when necessary mop floors.
Hats off to a wonderful lady who has, compared to many men, earned her stripes many times over to lead one of the largest Islamic Centers in America. Hats off also to the membership of the Islamic Center for their courageous and far reaching act in electing a woman as their leader.
As of this writing no lightening bolt has hit the Center or itss leadership for this 'sacrilegious' act of crossing the Rubicon.
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