Transcript Islamic Feminism - Iqbalians, A Group of Educational Volunteers

14.09.11
 FEMINISMS
- No Boundaries
- Produced in particular places with context bound
issues
- It is a plant which grows in its own soil.
- But that does not mean that there can’t be common
issues.
ORIGIN
 Qasim Amin father of Egyptian feminist movement.
‘Women’s Liberation’ 1899
 Nisa ‘I’ – 1920’s
 Al-Ittihad al-Nisai al Misri (Egyptian feminist
union) 1923.
 Malak Hifni Nasif in 1909 – Al-Nisaiyat (About
Women)
 Unthawiyat (womanists) –Nassawiyat (remakers of women)
 Nilufer Gole 1990’s ‘The Forbidden Modern’
& Margot Badran- ‘Opening the Gates: A Century of Arab
Feminist writing’.
Feminists, Islam and Nations, Exploring Islamic
Feminism etc
 Mai Yamani 1996 ‘Feminism and Islam’.
FEMINISTS MAY BE CALLES AS….
Muslim Feminists.
- Believe in Islam, gender equality but also tend to use
argument outside Islam such as an international
human rights agreement to counter gender inequality
or secular law of the country.
- Focus on Quran rather than of Hadith and Shariah
Islamist Feminists
- Advocates for a political Islam- that Quran mandates
an Islamic govt.
- Advocate women rights in public sphere but do not
challenge gender inequalities in the private sphere
 Islamic Feminists (IF)
- Seek full equality of women and men in public as
well as private sphere.
- Some Alambardars have hijacked Islam & it is
damaging
- IF call for authentic interpretation of Quran
- IF want to restore original Islam
- Cultural & political interpretations damaging
- Patriarchal laws have damaged the true spirit and
equality of Islam
- Family laws have been damaged by alien
ideologies, distortion and intrusions.
 IF want to connect theory and practice- male
theorizing not helpful in every day life.
 IF is based on ONENESS OF GOD TOWHEED- and
not to obey “male power”.
Categories of feminist
- Economically dependent, uneducated, rural-urban
group
- Middle class, urban , educated, financially secure
group. It also includes academics & researchers-as
pressure groups.
- Upper middle class and elite women, men whose
position allows them to pursue liberation and
development stances.
THEORATICAL UNDERPINNINGS
 Liberal Islamic Feminists:
- Basically rebellious of patriarchal society
- Women right for education
- Equal rights in public space
- Right to work
- Challenge conventional authority of male, e.g. in
marriage, inheritance
- Women could be head of state
 Modernist & Secular Islamic Feminists;
- Liberal theory from within Islam
- Self-control in sexual urges instead of dress codes and
segregation.
- Sometimes they compromise to situations for as
women did in Iran and Sudan .
- Critique of traditional interpretation of Islam
- Fundamental human rights- to develop physical,
mental and spiritual potentialities, pro-male
structures are problematic and should be eliminated.
 Radical Islamic Feminists:
- Second and third generation are radical activists.
- They are concerned about the technicalities enshrined
in legal and Islamic .
- They do question male dominance but sometimes
accept patriarchal norms as genuine as veil.
- Dialogue on issues such as work place, worship place,
family intermixing.
- They critique male’s politicization of Quranic
interpretation and Prophetic Sunnah.

-
Secular Feminists :
Religion is private affair.
Religion and state should be separate
They are concerned about internal variations of Islamwhich has impact on our economic, political, cultural,
subordination.
- Inherent hostility of women rights and fundamental
notion of divine laws are problematic
- Human rights should be international and have no cultural
boundaries
- As Muslims their position itself becomes challenging.
 Conservative Islamic Feminists:
- Women are equal but different.
- Segregation of sexes and purdah necessary to control.
- They ask for segregated education, hospitals, business etc
- Women at work place is a threat to morality and
productivity of the society
- They counter the efforts of liberal feminists
- The younger generation has a different stance and they
look for jobs, state generated discriminatory laws, domestic
violence, marriage rights ….