The parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge (Lk 18:1-8) : the significance and relevance of the parable for the experiences of widows in Independent Zimbabwe

Abstract

The violation of widows’ property or inheritance rights are a common phenomenon in pre- and post-independent Zimbabwe, Africa and worldwide. These violations disregard the dignity of the persona, Ubuntu, and heed not to the vox Populi or the vox Dei. The traditional cultural, patrilineal systems and belief of women harbour these violations. Traditional society perceives women as perpetual minors who cannot make independent informed decisions. The disinheriting of widows continues unabated despite Zimbabwe being a signatory to several statutory instruments locally, regionally, and internationally that safeguard women’s inheritance or property rights. However, suffering continues to rise and now the stories are all over media houses and are now topical issues in workshops, conferences, and seminars. The legal reactions to halt this inhuman cultural monster has yielded no significant result. The violations have left thousands of widows emotionally traumatised, wounded, and in abject poverty. This study seeks an avenue out to reprieve the suffering of widows through the search of a voice or role model. The study explored the status of women in Zimbabwe’s traditional setups when missionaries came and post-independence. The goal is to understand the predicament of widows in different epochs. The study documented the disenfranchised widows and the root cause of the suffering. As I lay bare the root cause of injustice and violations, the thesis proposed ways of stopping the wheels of injustice. The failure to stop the wheels of injustice hinges on the cultural “male masculinity” where men is de facto heads of households and women are commodities to inherit and keep because men pay the lobola. Marriage lobola transfers a woman’s rights, reproduction rights, identity, and ownership of the property to the husband and takes them away at the death of the husband. The death of the husband removes the acquired marriage privileges. As such, stories of women’s suffering bombard the print and electronic media. The study proposes an anthropological study of honour and shame and African Biblical Hermeneutics (ABH) as interpretational tools to Biblical narratives in search of role models. The experiences of the ordinary people, nameless and vulnerable such as the Persistent Widow and the Unjust Judge (Lk 18:1-8) become the rallying point. The widow’s persistence is foundational in challenging the subjugating culture and the violations. The thesis interpreted the parable through the eyes of the ordinary person and her experience. The strength to resist injustice comes from emulating role models who subverted the culture of impunity that has commodified and subjugated women. I propose that, unless widows produce their own culture and shape their destiny justice can be hard to come by, they will continue to suffer. The persistent widow was a victor as she challenged the status quo, the community belief of a poor widow who needs help from the male companion- the father when young, the husband when married and the son when old. The widow stood up against social injustice, the push to bribe the judge by her constant presence until the soliloquy of the judge, “Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” For how long will the widow’s untapped character or talent remain hidden within dejected widows? Whose responsibility is it to unleash the power in women? The way forward is for women to understand that they do have rights. It is up to them to be courageous and knowledgeable about the legal system that governs them. Even if corruption, patriarchy, and injustice have prejudiced them, destiny is with them. They are a solution to their problems.