Farhat Hashmi
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[edit] Life
Farhat Hashmi (Urdu: فرحت ہاشمی) is one of the most influential contemporary Muslim scholars or Ulema particularly in Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Dr. Hashmi (or Dr. Farhat as she is referred to by many of her students) was born in Sargodha, Punjab, and is the daughter of the (Late) Abdur Rehman Hashmi, another prominent Muslim scholar.
She received her masters in Arabic at the Punjab University, Lahore, and was married shortly afterwards to Dr. Idrees Zubair. She received her PhD in Hadith Sciences from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. She taught at the International Islamic University Islamabad, while also conducting informal "duroos" or religious study circles for women in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. Her fame caught on as her study circles were regularly attended by the social elite in the capital, including Mrs. Farooq Leghari, the First Lady of Pakistan in the late 1990s.
She resigned from her post at the University and decided to pursue her mission of establishing a center of Islamic learning, particularly catering to women. Her institution is housed in a building in downtown Islamabad, and it is called "Al-Huda" -- Besides regular courses, it conducts special workshops which are open to the general public.
Dr. Hashmi herself lectures in some of these sessions, particularly during the month of Ramadan. Many of her lectures are recorded and disseminated all throughout Pakistan, the Middle East as well as the US and UK. Certain women scholars at her institution also conduct lectures and workshops in English, however the primary medium remains Urdu.
Dr. Hashmi is widely known for her in depth knowledge of Hadith (sayings of Muhammad), and a detailed grasp of Classical Arabic. Her primary following remains the middle and upper classes of Pakistan, however her influence is certainly more widespread, and is not restricted only to women.
Recently she has been attracting quite a bit of attention in the on-going discussion of Progressive vs. Reactionary Islam. Dr. Hashmi however remains to be considered a traditional scholar of Islam, in that her focus remains on the core of the religion. She is not a proponent of reform per se, but is an outspoken critic of the condition of women in contemporary Muslim societies. She exiges the correct and consistent implementation of the legal protections, freedoms and priviledges afforded to women within the primary Islamic law (Shariah), which are often overlooked or ignored in traditional societies (i.e. societies which are organized around cultural and traditional mores and norms, and not per se codified universal Islamic Law).
Dr. Hashmi and Dr. Zubair have four children: three married daughters and a son. Currently, the family resides in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
