Reading other People’s Holy Works: Islamic Hagar and Her Family

I found the stories of Hagar, Sarah and Their Children in the Islamic texts fascinating and somewhat strange. While I take the stories of Sarah and Hagar from the Jewish and Christian scriptures as stories which contain truth but not historical fact. I found myself not sure how to read the stories of Hagar in the Muslim scriptures.

Muslims and I do not share a common scripture. While the old testament texts are a shared body of work, Muslim holy writings of the Qur’an and hadith are not part of my sacred tradition. How does one read someone else’s sacred mail with sensitivity and respect? In this chapter Riffat Hassan mentions this concern. She warns us that other people do not take the holy writings of Islam with the same authority afforded the texts of Jewish and Christian scriptures.

When I read scripture with most Jews or Christians from other traditions I assume that we are all coming from a modern hermeneutic. Whether that might be a feminist, liberation or simply historical-critical method, most modern Jews and Christians do not read scriptures quite as literally as this author reads her holy writings. The lack of critique of the way the stories are told or the interpretation of the stories within the Islamic tradition gave me pause. Can I profess with Riffat that Sarah’s virtue and faithfulness to God is affirmed by her ethical choices and obedience to Abraham while she was in Egypt? Can I claim that Hagar’s obedience and submission to Abraham in her desert exile showed how much she trusted Abraham and therefore, trusted God?

This is the sort of hermeneutic that leads to men’s dominance in religion, education, and the home. And in the extreme, this sort of exegesis can lead to violence against women done in the name of God for her own ‘good’.

This is exactly what we were hoping to avoid in the study of this book. We were given the expectation that the dialogue in this book would lead us to the place where we would not allow our traditions to be used against ourselves or other women.

So I have no answers here. I’m not sure how to honor the Islamic stories without a different sort of hermeneutic. And I am not sure that I am allowed to do that exegesis without dishonoring my sisters in the Muslim community.

Jewish Perspectives as I See Them

I am not an expert in Jewish interpretation. However, chapter 4, was a very clear and understandable way to be reminded and even introduced to the Jewish Sages.
When beginning to understand Jewish writings and interpretation of sacred text it is important to remember that few Jewish theologians interpret the bible literally. Rabbinic midrashic texts particularly treat interpretation as a multi faceted lens through which the sacred text is taught and interpreted. Therefore, in Jewish tradition, the “text cannot be reduced to one single ‘correct’ meaning.”
This way of interpretation can take a turn towards the playful as well as the reverent. And it means that texts can have layers of meaning which make for a rich reading of text.
What was stunning to me, as I read in Chapter 4 about the various ways of interpreting the Hagar/Sarah story, is that many Jewish interpreters wrote about Hagar in a favorable light. While they certainly claimed Sarah as their mother Hagar is not always painted as a harlot or sinner.
Rabbinic scholars wrestled with the fact that Hagar met God’s angels and it was she, not Sarah, who spoke to God directly. A few scholars dismiss the gift of seeing angels as unique to Hagar pointing out that it probably happened simply because she was in Abraham’s household. But other scholars point out that not only does Hagar she angels, she sees angels that Sarah is unable to see. The slave is more in touch with God than the master.
A number of medieval Sages commented on Sarah’s lack of moral integrity in her abusive treatment of Hagar. One Sage goes so far as to name Sarah’s abuse as torture. Yet, Nahmanides, named Sarah’s treatment of Hagar as sinful and torturous, he still maintained the superiority of Sarah and ‘thus the children of Sarah would rule over Hagar’s children forever.’
Modern Jewish writers are as divergent as the ancients’ in their interpretation of the Hagar/Sarah story. Feminist Jewish writings give Hagar’s position more dignity than the ancient text would probably afford to a foreign slave woman. Other modern Sages try to understand Sarah’s behavior in light of the historical significance and how the story has played out in modern history. Sarah was protecting her progeny from the future history of slavery and oppression.
All of the interpretations can show the reader how easy it is to become the oppressor even when one has been the oppressed. This is one of the most difficult moral dilemmas of humanity.
And we are all vulnerable. Most women in religious environments have experienced a degree of oppression based on gender. Like Sarah and Hagar we could be tempted to play out our own journey by oppressing others. We might rationalize, “I had to work hard to get here, so does she.”
How do we see other’s place in society as worthy, just as worthy as our own? How do we assure ourselves that we will not fall into the trap of moving from oppressed one to oppressor?

Double Rejection

Christians have been brought up to understand that Sarah is not only the matriarch of our faith tradition, but is also an example of human (womanly, in particular)virtue. Hopefully, by the time readers have made it to chapter 3 they have a broader and deeper understanding of the story of Hagar and Sarah.
Letty continues to broaden and deepen our understanding of the story of Sarah and Hagar by looking in depth at what Paul does with the story. Besides pointing out the 'Twists and Turns in Paul's Allegory,' Letty's expositions of the texts also give us occasion to contemplate the ways allegory in moral and ethical arguments can lead us astray.
Focusing on the texts in Galatians, Letty shows the ways in which Paul's writings in one letter contradict each other. In the familiar text in chapter 3, Paul writes, "for there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, for all are one in Christ." (vs28) Then in chapter 4 vs. 21-31, Paul contradicts himself by affirming the oppression of Hagar by Sarah because Hagar was a foreigner and Sarah's slave. Paul even goes so far as to say that 'Hagar's child was born according to the flesh while Sarah child was born through promise'. So much for neither slave nor free as a basis of worth and acceptance in God's realm!
Paul further complicates the relationship and meaning of the women's lives by ‘representing the women as opposing covenants of law and promise.” Hagar is no longer simply a slave, a foreigner and a threat to Sarah she is now also a “…Jewish Christian opponent, a slave to the Jewish law and a threat to freedom in Christ.” (p.72) Paul wants her, or what he has made her stand for, driven out of the church. Hagar is doubly condemned. And so Christians receive the message, in contradiction to the freedom proclamation of Paul in chapter 3, that Hagar’s story is a story of bad behavior, bad social status, and even worse, bad belief.
What strikes me in this is how this twisted allegory has become the shadow by which we interpret the Hebrew Scripture story of Hagar and Sarah. It is my contention that Christians cannot read the story in Genesis without being influenced by the allegory of Paul. What do you think?

At the end of chapter one, Letty and Phyllis ask: "How might we as daughters (& sons) of Hagar and Sarah contribute to the topics of family, faith and interfaith relations...?"
Their answers are:
That focus be not on Abraham as the founding father of three different religions but on Hagar and Sarah as the founding mothers.
That we focus on interpreting the sources in ways different from the traditional approach.
And that we can advocate as women (&men) of diverse faiths who refuse to allow those faiths to be used against us or against outsiders.

This would of course mean that we would have to pay attention even more closely than we already do to the ways words are used and liturgy is spoken.

I was at a radically feminine worship service Sunday evening. Everything was led by women, the language of the biblical texts read was inclusive even in the use of the language for and about God, the prayers included lifting up the female saints along with male saints of the church, and intoned blessings in the name of Abraham and Sarah. The words of this service would have been heard as extremely radical in most Christian worship services.

However, as a result of reading this book, Hagar, Sarah and Their Children, I felt the absence of Hagar in these words of blessing and in the reading of the text from Galatians 3.
Why when we bless each other in the name of Abraham and Sarah do we feel that we have completed the task of inclusive worship? We haven't, have we? Not until we are comfortable blessing each other and God through the names of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar, Deborah and Miriam, Leah and Rachel, Dinah and Tamar, Ruth and Batsheva, will we have come even further along the pathway of understanding and experiencing the inclusive nature of God's love and grace for humanity.

Who Is My Mother?

Adult women are often brought up short when they realize, through something they have said or done, "I sound just like my mother." At times this can be a moment of joy and pride; most often, however, it is a moment of consternation. Always it should be moments of self-awareness--we, as women, are not as autonomous as we would like to think we are. As Coki Roberts proclaims, in the title of her book, "We Are Our Mother's Daughters." In the context of this blog we are exploring what it means to be daughters of our mothers Hagar and Sarah.
As a Christian woman I have been taught that I should claim my lineage through Sarah.
In the introduction to the book, Letty and Phyllis succinctly, yet powerfully, explain how this mistaken notion was handed down to me through generations of Christian mothers. The fable I was taught was—‘Sarah was the chosen of God, we (Christians) are the chosen of God, and therefore Sarah is our mother.’
Like many fables that perpetuate the myths of power and privilege, this fable is much too simplistic. It does not reflect the complexity of the story and the, scant, but telling history of Hagar and Sarah.

What would change in your perspective and experience if you claimed both Hagar and Sarah as your mothers?
• If you claimed both Hagar and Sarah as God's chosen ones?
• If you claimed a dis-unified family as your family of origin? ("By the command of God, a single family has become two families, one living with the father and the other, apart from him. pp. 3)

Authors Welcome

If you would like to author something in this blog, please do ask to be invited. I can add more authors as people are interested.

Hagar, Sarah, and Their Children

I am inviting the community to read and comment on the book Hagar, Sarah and Their Children in preparation for a set of discussions and presentations taking place this October. The book is edited by Phyllis Tribble and Letty Russell. Phyllis will be speaking in the Twin Cities on Thursday, October 18, 2007, 7:30 p.m. On Friday October 19th 9am-noon she will be part of a panel discussion which will include scholars from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions:Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Dr. Corrine Carvalho, Dr. Ingrid Mattson.

The book is a compilation of thoughts, essays and studies written by Phyllis and Letty and scholars from the three Abrahamic traditions. The first chapter orients the reader to the three traditions which claim the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar. A piece that intrigued me in this overview was thinking about what it would be like to be identified with Hagar instead of Sarah. How would that play out in my own faith journey? What attitudes would I develop as the outcast one's daughter?

Reading the accounts of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar (or lack of accounts of Sarah and Hagar) in the writings of the three faiths was fascinating. Is it just a matter of patriarchy that makes the writings all but silent on the full stories of Sarah and Hagar?

Reading the non-canonical sources of the families reminds me again that history is not made up of cold hard facts but of our perception of facts which usually support our own agenda. This sort of 'historical record' can be very damaging to the human family. How do we guard against such historical writing and thinking?