Exploring Islamic Feminism
What
is Islamic Feminism?
The revelation
of Islam established women's equal status and equal rights. The Prophet
treated women as equals and was very responsive to their thoughts and needs.
There was a tendency toward "ignorance" in the society where
Islam was revealed, and it crept back in after the Prophet's death and brought
back some of the negative things that Islam had reformed, including misogyny.
Eventually the misogynist attitude left over from "ignorance"
gained a foothold in Islamic law and took away some of women's rights and
lowered their status. Islamic feminism is just an effort to restore
the equal status of women as is their God-given right in Islam from the
beginning. You hear a lot of how Islam is great for women in theory.
In practice, there have been many systemic abuses against women in
Muslim societies. The Taliban were the worst and most extreme example.
So there is an urgent need to re-establish women's rights and dismantle
the patriarchal rule that has plagued too many Muslim societies. What
makes it Islamic is that it's based on the sources of Islam: the Qur’ân
and the Prophet's example.
Indigenous Feminists in Muslim countries:
The real work
of Islamic feminism is being done by Muslims themselves in their own societies,
because they are the only ones who understand how to work in the Muslim
context. One of Western feminists’ biggest failings is overlooking
the way Muslim feminists are handling the issues themselves without any
extraneous help. This failure is part of the North-South divide. Afghan
women's groups, such as the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
(RAWA), were in the front line resisting the Taliban and its Islamist predecessors,
including the present militias of the Northern Alliance. They are not "victims"
of "Islamic culture," to be pitied and "saved" by the
West. Indigenous feminists of the Third World have pointed out to us the
pitfalls of rendering invisible the agency and resistance of women of the
South, and of reducing women's oppression to various Third World "cultures."
The only really effective work has to come from Muslim feminists working
from within their societies. We call for recognition of the major
value of Muslim feminists; the best way the Westerners can help is to support
what the Muslims are already doing instead of inserting themselves, and
especially when this insertion leads to military intervention.
Feminist Dimension of the Peace Movement:
The U.S. administration
has thrown its support behind the Northern Alliance, even as Afghan women's
groups oppose the U.S. military attacks on Afghanistan, and raise serious
concerns about the record of the Northern Alliance in perpetuating human
rights abuses and violence against women in the country. If we listen to
the voices of these women, we will very quickly be disabused of the notion
that U.S. military intervention is going to lead to the emancipation of
women in Afghanistan.
Even before the bombings began, hundreds of thousands of Afghan women were
compelled to flee their homes and communities, and to become refugees. The
bombings of Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad and other cities in the country have
resulted in further loss of life, including the lives of women and children.
Over three million Afghan refugees are now on the move in the wake of the
U.S. attacks. How on earth can we justify these bombings in the name of
furthering women's emancipation?
Imperialism and militarism do not further women's liberation in western
countries either. Women have to be brought into line to support racist imperialist
goals and practices, and they have to live with the men who have been brutalized
in the waging of war when these men come back. Men who kill women and children
abroad are hardly likely to come back cured of the effects of this brutalization.
Introduction to Islamic Feminist Theorists:
One of the most
prominent Islamic feminists is Fatima Mernissi. She has done research
into the sources of Islam and brought to light a wealth of support for Islamic
feminism. See especially her book The Veil and the Male Elite—perhaps
the single best book on the subject of veiling. Other scholars who
have made valuable contributions along these lines include Asma Barlas (author
of "Believing Women" in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations
of the Qur’an), Leila Ahmed (author of Women and Gender in Islam),
Azizah al-Hibri, Riffat Hassan, Amina Wadud (author of Qur’an and Woman:
Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective), and Khaled Abou
el-Fadl (author of Speaking in God's Name: Islamic Law, Authority, and
Women), among others. Also see Elizabeth Warnock Fernea's book
In Search of Islamic Feminism: One Woman's Global Journey, and the
new book Veiled Courage: Inside the Afghan Women's Resistance by
Cheryl Benard.
Position Statement:
The PMN supports the efforts of Islamic feminists in working to bring
about the equality of men and women. We further call on Muslim countries
and communities around the world to end gender motivated injustice and
establish full legal and social equality for women.