Throughout history she has been both a symbol of liberation and oppression, and yet she is. Yet the developments of postrevolutionary iran have. Islamic system, others import them and use them as such, sometimes even from a secular perspective. One example of the differences between western feminism and islamic feminism concerns the issue of veiling. This volume illustrates how women in islamic societies have become more actively involved not only in learning their rights under the sharia islamic law but in rereading this law to improve their status and gain increased equality and freedom. In between feminism and islam, zakia salime looks at three key movement moments.
Feminism ids bulletin volume 42 number 1 january 2011 beyond islam vs. Why is western feminism so afraid to criticize islam. Islam vs feminism contemporary topics of islamic thought. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in educationand employment. Paired with the historical gains of islamic feminisms from the daughters of hajars islamic bill of rights for women in mosques to the turkish feminisms from the ottoman period onward islamic feminists have been making waves in their ancestral homelands and beyond add to that the feminisms of converts and a collage as multifaceted and brilliant as traditional mosaics that. Such women have a high degree of tolerance for domestic violence and oppression of. When speaking of islamic feminism, one must take into account the meaning of the two words that make up this term. Iranian islamic feminism and the ways in which it differs from the secular feminism dominated by women from the modern and upper middle classes. In the united states and france, muslim women are more targeted by exclusion and discrimination than muslim men, as women wearing the hijab are perceived. To them, feminism seems to represent attitudes of western women of perhaps questionable morals who want to subvert their culture. Through a careful sociological and ethnographic account of moroccan feminist and islamist womens organizations, zakia salime shows how the two have transformed each other through decades of activism, debate, and engagement.
Islamic feminism means justice to women, the milli. Mar 17, 2014 as a charity bids to boost feminism among muslim women, shelina janmohamed asks why british female muslims would want to join a feminist movement born in the west, which asks women of faith to. This paper explores ways in which a multifaceted understanding of islam can contribute to productive dialogue about the future of muslim women. Between inadequacy and inevitability article pdf available in journal of feminist studies in religion 292. The effects of western feminist ideology on muslim feminists dtic. Islamic feminism encounters western feminism 7 argue.
The hijab often translated as veil is the form of scarf or hair covering commonly worn by muslim women. What constitutes an islamic feminism, and where is it headed. Islamic feminism ultimately rejects western feminism, but its eventual rise can be directly traced to the influence of western feminist thought in the 20th century as islamic feminists were forced to assert themselves and create a movement that revolted against the norm of western feminism, which they saw as a continuance of western dominance. If secularism is not always negation of religion only atheistic secularism negates it, not other forms of secularism and in most cases it is not, there is no objection to feminism. Dilemmas of islamic and secular feminists and feminisms. Jul, 2017 an islamic sarsour style of feminism has to be shariacompliant in the if you cant beat em, join em mode.
Introduction feminism has radically altered western culture in the latter half of the twentieth century. How islamic feminists assess western feminism and western. Mar 08, 2018 islamic feminism is a relatively recent current of thought being developed by a transnational network of activists in widely contrasting sociopolitical contexts. As a charity bids to boost feminism among muslim women, shelina janmohamed asks why british female muslims would want to join a feminist movement born in. In the following article i will very briefly outline some of the main determinations of this complex contemporary phenomenon islamic feminisms. People like sam harris are very honest and intelligent but the moment they criticize islam, they are called bigoted and racist. Whereas western concepts of feminism are often resisted as foreign and subversive of muslim. Young arab muslim womens agency challenging western feminism. Feminism ziba mirhosseini abstract islamic feminism has gained currency since the 1990s and has become the label for a new brand of feminist scholarship and activism that is associated with islam. At the same time, however, they dissociate themselves from the misguided radicalism of western feminism in order to protect themselves against potential charges of guilt by association. Islam in particular is oppressive to women2 and many muslim women reject it because they.
As i saw in indonesia, this activism uses contextual interpretation as a method to discover a basis for equality and rights in islamic religious texts, emphasizing the importance of understanding religious texts with reference to their social and historical context. Sexual revolution and liberation meant that sexual relations should be freed of the constraints associated with traditional christian virtue. Secular feminists reject it because they argue religion generally and. Women religious and christian feminism by jill robson the following text is the result of several conversations and a continuing dialogue between two women friends, one a lay person and the other a religious sister. The western feminist has always seen it as oppressive and as a symbol of a muslim womans subservience to men. The future of islamic feminism may see stronger social institutions and resources that support women and an end to the sugarcoating and apologetics, but most importantly, it may see a renaissance. However, many scholars have found evidence in islamic texts which is supportive of womens rights. Such feminist universalist assumptions homogenize muslim women and islamic traditions and tend to establish western cultural hegemony. The islamic traditionlike other major religious traditionsdoes not consist of, or derive from, a single source. Yet muslim women have been active in modern forms of feminism since the nineteenth century. Its not only feminists but also liberals and atheists. If you are talking about the original feminism that consisted right for a woman to own her stuff when she is married right to vote right to work against wife beating then its ok, because islam allows all these things but modern day femin.
Feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of. The tendency to see muslim cultures as monolithic is the foremost feature of islamophobia abbas, 2004, p. An islamic sarsour style of feminism has to be shariacompliant in the if you cant beat em, join em mode. Feminism is the name of struggle that demands equal rights for women in every corner of life. Islamic feminism is expressed in a single or paramount religiously grounded discourse taking the quran as its central text. It is in this context that questions about the possibility and desirability of islamic feminism arise. Mar 15, 2014 islamic feminism is not a new thing, which will probably surprise most people, but muslim women have the same core concerns as white, secular, british women. But there are significant differences between islamic and western feminism. Islamic feminism is defined by islamic scholars as being more radical than secular feminism, and as being anchored within the discourse of islam with the quran as its central text. Her area of research includes political theory, religion. At the core of these moments are disputes over legitimacy, national identity, gender. Some of the muslims talking about islamic feminism were among the producers of the new discourse, or activists inspired by it. Understanding islamic feminism public radio international. As it grew to encompass those women who were not white and middle class it was caught in the trap that ensnares most social movements.
Sources of the tradition before engaging in any meaningful discussion of feminism in islam, it is useful to refer to the sources of the islamic tradition, since much confusion surrounds the use of the term islam. Dec 22, 20 for decades, western men have hijacked the language of womens liberation to justify their islamophobia. I think that islamic feminism is actually going to be the entry point for this whole renewal of islamic discourse. Western feminism is based on secular ideology but upholds dignity of women and their rights. Islamic feminism is a transnational movement that seeks to reinscribe questions of gender and womens rights into islamic thought and practice.
Islam, was proposed to have the interest of muslim iranian women at heart. Jan 16, 2015 muslim feminism actually emerged in the 1990s in iran and malaysia. Mar 06, 2015 i have asked myself this very question. Islamic feminism is a feminist discourse expressly articulated within an islamic paradigm and behaviours and activisms inspired by it are enacted in islams name. Islamic feminism is based on certain nonnegotiable values, i.
Islamic feminism insists upon the separation of religion and state, resolutely upholding the notion of a secular state. Contextualizing equality of gender in islam kamran shahid. Islamic feminism is related to the return to religion that many muslim societies have experienced in recent decades. Islamic feminism is a relatively new concept and not without controversy.
The most recent of these is islamic feminism, which is defined as a crossborder movement that brings together all muslim women seeking to redefine their. Islamic feminism is a feminist discourse that propagates gender equality and social justice within a prestructured islamic framework, in an attempt to achieve normative reconciliation between islam and womens rights. At the time ziba mirhosseini was also seeking a divorce from her husband, who refused to comply. Perhaps no other social movement has wrought such profound changes in social morals and attitudes. Between feminism and islam university of minnesota press. Islamic feminism and feminist theory by catherine williams. Contrary to this implication middle eastern women have taken extremely active roles in the gender debate and the sociopolitical struggles within their societies. Islamic feminism, like islam today, is in the west as it is in the east. The concept of feminism originated in late 19 th century but it. In this paper i reflect on the two modes of feminism in the middle east, secular feminism and islamic feminism and consider what makes them distinct and how they intersect. Muslim women have also argued that feminism is an ideology relevant only to the lives of western affluent women, and that even for them it has only resulted in making them into quasi men or sex objects. Religion, inevitably, was to play a major role in this enterprise. Islamic feminism is an interislamic phenomenon produced by muslims at various locations around the globe. While many women in iran resist this religious and patriarchal regime, and an increasing number of iranian intellectuals and activists, including islamists, call for.
Feminism is a secular ideology and islam today rests on fundamentalist foundations. In particular, this school of thought asserted the right to engage in interpretation ijtihad that promoted gender equality, new roles for women in religious ritual and. In my opinion, there is no ideology more irreconcilable with feminism than islam. Islamic feminism is a relatively recent current of thought being developed by a transnational network of activists in widely contrasting sociopolitical contexts. In other words, islamic feminism is a feminist discourse and practice articulated within an islamic paradigm badran 2009, 242. At the same time, however, one cannot overestimate this approach since such. If the goals of western feminism are not viable for muslim women, what form should a feminist movement take to ensure success. Womens rights or feminism have been used to justify colonial policies and the invasion of muslim countries, both historically and also in recent times. Introduction in the nonwest, feminism has largely been considered an alien concept, contrary to indigenous norms and traditions. Analyzing a conceptual conflict reference url share. Not only do some scholars resist the naming but, as an analytic construct, islamic feminism also precludes new understandings of sex difference originating in nonwestern and anticolonial cultural.
It fragmented, became exclusive rather than inclusive. If we care about the future of feminism, we cannot let them set the agenda. Islamic rather than familial or cultural can potentially enable them to recover their long obfuscated rights. Dilemmas of islamic and secular feminists and feminisms1 by huma ahmedghosh2 abstract this paper explores ways in which a multifaceted understanding of islamic feminism can contribute to productive dialogue about the future of muslim women in both islamic and secular states. Those who advocate that feminist projects be conducted within an islamic framework have clearly despaired of secular options for change without considering how have elaborated lilas argument against the possibility of the coexistence of islam and feminism because it explains the anxiety many. In their conception a muslim woman is a secluded and passive subject, who neither has any. Above all, the movement must recognize that, whereas in the west, the mainstream of the womens movement has viewed religion as one of the chief enemies of its progress and wellbeing. Secular here is not tantamount to unreligious or antireligious.
Islamic feminism and feminist theory abstract western feminist theory has developed significantly from its early roots in the suffrage movement. Dilemmas of islamic and secular feminists and feminisms core. On the other hand, virtually all the women interviewed in the book are concerned about womens issues and would like to improve the lives of women in their communities. Sep 07, 2016 if you are talking about the original feminism that consisted right for a woman to own her stuff when she is married right to vote right to work against wife beating then its ok, because islam allows all these things but modern day femin. Indeed many wonder whether it is possible to reconcile feminism with islam a religion critics regard as inherently patriarchal. Between feminism and islam challenges the common assumption in the media and the academy that islamism and feminism are quintessentially opposed ideologies. Freedom comes with a certain responsibility in islamic whereas in the west freedom tends to degenerate into licentiousness, not in law but certainly in social and cultural. Muslim feminism actually emerged in the 1990s in iran and malaysia. But feminism takes on new meaning when viewed through the lens of islam. She specializes in islamic feminism and has authored many essays and books interpreting islam on feminist perspectives. The most confusing thing for the nonmuslims particularly in the western world is the position of women in islam.
Islamic feminism means justice to women prof margot badran is a historian and senior fellow at centre for christianmuslim understanding at georgetown university usa. Islamic feminism encounters western feminism 6 comparison with more conservative islamic literature that basically dismisses western women and the womens movement in the west as misguided, worthless, and even corrupt. The status of the muslim woman in the middle east visavis the west continues to preoccupy scholars, feminists and human rights activists throughout the globe. Sheikh frequently employed the term islamic feminism in her speeches and articles. Islam and feminism have contradictory views on the most fundamental issues in metaphysics, ethics, social and political philosophy and theology. Indian muslim women activists and the reform of muslim personal law 1 sylvia vatuk department ofanthropology mc o27, university of illinois at chicago, o007 west harrison st.
Western culture, deemed to be true for all hasan, 2005, p. No matter how much some western muslim women attempt to hijack the creed of feminism to suit their interests blurring the distinction between their islamic values a. Feminism is frequently seen as a western import which is alien to islam and threatening to muslim values. By the mid1990s, there was growing evidence of islamic feminism as a term created and circulated by muslims in farflung corners of the world.
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