On Shura-cracy, Gender and Equality in Islam
Whenever the concept of Shura is mentioned, attention goes very quickly to the Quranic chapter titled Shura, in which the concept is mentioned as one of the qualities of the believers and without any specification of how, when and where to be used. The second mention of "Shura" in the Quran which draws attention is the one in the third chapter (Aal-Imran), the historical context of which was purely political (has to do with war). This may sound a chauvinistic style of reading the Quranic text that clouds men from readily remembering the mentioning of the same concept in Chapter Baqara, in relation to weaning a child (I acknowledge a woman drew my attention to it). But I don't think this would be(more than partially) true. The first reason is that the (most prominent) practical explanation of Shura concept through the actions of the Prophet (PBUH) in his interactions with the people around him was purely political and mostly to do with war. The second reason is ...