무슬림 여성과 대화의 선교

Muslim Women and Mission of Dialogue : A Phenomenological lnterpretation

This paper is to examine the Islamic view on women by analyzing the Qur'an and dealing with the characteristics of Muhammad's wives. Early Islamic tradition emphasized the equality between women and men. And Muhammad’s wives played important roles of educating Muslims the Islamic theology and practice without the prejudice of gender. However, this early position has been changed by Hadith traditions and history of Islam. The issues of veiling, polygamy, and gender-separation are culturally conditioned. From womanist's point of view, they can be regarded as tools of protecting women and making them visible before non-Muslims. Though they can be the symbols of male domination and oppression over women, some feminist Muslims argue that cultural differences resulted from traditions not from the nature of Islam, which they regard as the religion of equality and peace. For example, the female circumcision, which are popular in North Africa, is not required by the teachings of the Qur'an. Reconstructing the model of Jeon Jae Ok, the first Korean woman missionary of Pakistan, the author proposes the seven stages of the new mission for Muslim women: ① naming, ② interpolation, ③ bracketing, ④ clarification, ⑤ understanding, ⑥ correction, and ⑦ witness. These stages can happen simultaneously not in sequence. In conclusion, the mission of God is much larger than the missions of churches in terms of depth and mystery. If God is the subject of mission, both Christians and Muslims should cooperate each other to become good partners on the way of religious pilgrim toward the world of peace and reconciliation under the reign of God.