Wahid Jahan, a Reformer's Wife and Partner in Muslim Women's Reform at Aligarh

Abstract

As the Muslim women’s question was articulated by men in the ‘reform’ movement (as in other communities), the participation of women was also by their (male) design; many times, women’s reform activities were seen as evidence of their own (male) progress. This paper examines the role of women initiated in the reform movement and the ‘role model’ they were expected to play, especially if educated and wedded to one active in ‘reform.’ The paper takes up the study of Wahid Jahan in reform, wife of Sheikh Abdullah, a pioneer in Muslim women’s education at Aligarh in the early twentieth century. Initiated in reform by her husband, and expected to follow his guidelines in all-important matters like being a ‘good wife’, her life would still be worthwhile to explore if the wife’s commitment and initiatives moved beyond the expectations or dictates of her husband. The paper thus, through biographical writings on Wahid Jahan, seeks to examine the larger question of reform normative and wife’s agency; whether it was possible for a wife as subordinate partner in reform and agent at home, to extend spaces for women both in the family and the school, or to separate herself from her roles.