Download or read book Contemporary Feminist Discourse in Islam Some Leading Muslim Voice written by Rehman Talha and published by Prakharpravachanyt. This book was released on 2022-04 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: INTRODUCTION What's in a name? What's behind a name? What is Islamic Feminism?...it is a feminist discourse and practice articulated within an Islamic paradigm.i Why do I use the word feminism when many object to its Western, activist, and even separatist associations? I do so because I believe that feminism is much more than an ideology driving organized political movements. It is above all an attitude, a frame of mind that highlights the role of gender in understanding the organization of society. Feminism provides the analytical tools for assessing how expectations for men's and women's behaviour have led to unjust situations, particularly but not necessarily only for women. Feminism provides a cross cultural prism through which to identify moments of awareness that something is wrong in the expectations for women's treatment or behavior, of rejection of such expectations, and of activism to effect some kind of change.ii One of the major realizations for any researcher studying Islam and women is the sheer abundance of discourses on Muslim women. The "thrownness" of the researcher in the midst of these discourses means that they engage with these questions about women's identity and being sometimes questioning and at other times assenting the implicit assumptions about the subject of their study that these discourses share. The "status" of woman in Islam has been hotly debated since at least the colonial period, always a politically charged and contentious topiciii. At times it seems that major discourses about Muslim women are not about women at all. These discourses are almost always accompanied by a comparison between the two apparently monolithic and exclusive, "Western" and "Islamic" civilizations, aimed at establishing the superiority of one over the other. The argument goes something like this: the civilization 'X' is better than 'Y' because the civilization 'X' treats "their women" better than 'Y' treats "theirs"'. This line of reasoning automatically equates civilization with men and renders women their possession and objects rather than active and autonomous subjects. It also leads to over-generalisation and reductionism by forming certain lump assumptions about all those who are identified as Muslim women, Arab Women or third world women. Yet the Muslim female researchers and activists themselves are not considered the "authority" on the subject. Feminist scholars writing within an Islamic paradigm have talked at length about this tendency to ignore the copious amount of work produced by feminist exegetes and women scholars in academia as well as in Muslim discourses about womeniv. The 'experts' on the subject of "Muslim women" are,

Download or read book Islamic Feminism written by Lana Sirri and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-29 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book sets out a rationale for the compatibility of Islam and Feminism and shows that Islamic Feminism is a diverse and valuable lens through which to analyse religion and gender. In addition, including scholarship written in Arabic, it promotes the decolonisation of knowledge production around Islam, gender and sexuality. Islamic feminism is a field of study that has been marginalised both in contemporary Islamic discourse and in feminist discourse. This study counters this marginalisation in two ways. Firstly, it enumerates the diversity of approaches used in Islamic feminist scholarship. Secondly, it foregrounds voices that are often neglected in discussions of Islam, gender and sexuality by highlighting and contrasting the work of two key scholars: Kecia Ali based in the USA and Olfa Youssef based in Tunisia. The book suggests that in addition to geo-political positioning, language, as a ‘prior-text’, also influences an individual’s personal interpretation of Islamic feminism. This comparison, therefore, enables broader issues to be dissected, such as the interrelationships between life experiences, strategies of resistance to patriarchal and other forms of oppression, and the production of knowledge. This is a unique study of Islamic Feminism that will be of great use to any scholar of Religion and Gender, Islamic Studies, Gender Studies and the Sociology of Religion.

Download or read book Voices and Veils written by Anna Kemp and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-12-02 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In recent years, the figure of the Muslim Woman has loomed large over mainstream feminist debate in France. Cast alternately as a Frenchwoman-in-the-making or a veiled threat, the Muslim Woman has become emblematic of France's relationship to those identified as its cultural others. But throughout these debates, and in spite of their scale and passion, one view has been glaringly absent: the view of French Muslim women themselves. Drawing on sociological, polemical and literary writings, this thoughtful and wide-ranging study examines the unacknowledged colonial roots of French feminist discourses on Islam and femininity, before bringing to light examples of French Muslim women's writing and activism that suggest alternative ways of being both French and a feminist. Shortlisted for the 2012 Gapper Prize, awarded annually by the Society for French Studies for the best book of its year by a scholar working in French studies in Britain or Ireland."

Download or read book Feminism Beyond East and West written by Margot Badran and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Islamic Feminism. What is it? Where did it arise? From within or from without? Is it "Legitimate"? What are its aims? Muslims often label feminism as "Western" by Muslims and thereby discredit it. Or they claim feminism is not "Eastern" and thus not authentic, and implicitly or explicitly un-Islamic or against Islam. At the same time, there are many non-Muslims and westerners who make the same claims. For such people feminism and Islam is either an anathema or an oxymoron. East and West connote geographies, cultures, and states of mind, very often in sliding and slippery ways. Islam, is typically called "Eastern" in ways the other two monotheistic religions, Judaism and Christianity, also originating in the East, are not. Early in its history, Islam had a presence in Europe; from the 8 to the 15 Centuries in Spain, as well as during some of this time in parts of Italy and Portugal. After this period, however Muslims ceased to form part of the indigenous population in Western Europe. In the same century, it was disappearing from Western Europe, Islam appeared in the Balkans, with the spread of Ottoman Rule. Islamic Feminism aims to recover and implement the fundamental objectives (maqasid) of Islam: social justice and the equality of all Muslims, including gender equality. There can be no social justice without gender equality. Islamic feminism, is attentive to the rights Islam granted to women that have withheld from them in practice, as well as the rights of any others withheld because of class, race or ethnicity. Islamic feminism is about gender, about women and men: their relations and interactions, about gender justice and the struggle to attain it, what in South Africa is called "gender jihad" -- from Cover.

Download or read book Feminism in Islam written by Margot Badran and published by ONEWorld. This book was released on 2009-02 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many in the West regard feminism and Islam as a contradiction in terms. However, this is a grave misconception as Margot Badran illustrates in this career-spanning collection of influential essays. Born of over three decades of work, Feminism in Islam traces the history and interaction of both secular and Islamic feminisms in Muslim societies since the nineteenth century.

Download or read book Voices of Resistance written by Sarah Husain and published by Seal Press. This book was released on 2006-06-13 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A diverse collection of personal and political narratives and prose by Muslim women includes pieces by writers from a wide range of cultures and includes such tales as a woman's remembrance of a beloved cousin killed in a suicide bombing, a transsexual who remembers the veil he no longer wears, and a woman's confrontation of sexism and hypocrisy on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Original.

Download or read book Feminist Edges of the Qur an written by Aysha A. Hidayatullah and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aysha A. Hidayatullah offers the first comprehensive examination of contemporary feminist Qur'anic interpretation, exploring its dynamic challenges to Islamic tradition and contemporary Muslim views of the Qur'an.

Download or read book Islam and Democracy in Iran written by Ziba Mir-Hosseini and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2006-05-26 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In today's world all eyes are on Iran, which has grappled with an experiment that has had a massive global impact. For some, the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79 was the triumph of a modern, political Islam, heralding Muslim justice and economic prosperity. Others, including many of the original revolutionaries, saw religious fanatics attempting to roll back time by creating a despotic theocracy. Either way, the Iranian Revolution changed the Muslim world. It not only inspired the Muslim masses but also reinvigorated intellectual debates on the nature and possibilities of an Islamic state. The new 'Islamic Republic of Iran' combined not just religion and the state, but theocracy and democracy. Yet the revolution's heirs were soon engaged in a protracted struggle over its legacy. Dissident thinkers, from within an Islamic framework, sought a rights-based political order that could accept dissent, tolerance, pluralism, women's rights and civil liberties. Their ideas led directly to the presidency of Mohammad Khatami and, despite their political failure, they did leave a permanent legacy by demystifying Iranian religious politics, and condemning the use of the Shariah to justify autocratic rule. This book tells the story of the reformist movement through the world of Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari. An active supporter of the revolution who became one of the most outspoken critics of theocracy, Eshkevari developed ideas of 'Islamic democratic government', which have attracted considerable attention in Iran and elsewhere. In presenting a selection of Eshkevari's writings, this book reveals the intellectual and political trajectory of a Muslim thinker and his attempts to reconcile Islam with reform and democracy. As such it makes a highly original contribution to our understanding of the difficult social and political issues confronting the Islamic world today.

Download or read book Women Embracing Islam written by Karin van Nieuwkerk and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2009-07-21 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many Westerners view Islam as a religion that restricts and subordinates women in both private and public life. Yet a surprising number of women in Western Europe and America are converting to Islam. What attracts these women to a belief system that is markedly different from both Western Christianity and Western secularism? What benefits do they gain by converting, and what are the costs? How do Western women converts live their new Islamic faith, and how does their conversion affect their families and communities? How do women converts transmit Islamic values to their children? These are some of the questions that Women Embracing Islam seeks to answer. In this vanguard study of gender and conversion to Islam, leading historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and theologians investigate why non-Muslim women in the United States, several European countries, and South Africa are converting to Islam. Drawing on extensive interviews with female converts, the authors explore the life experiences that lead Western women to adopt Islam, as well as the appeal that various forms of Islam, as well as the Nation of Islam, have for women. The authors find that while no single set of factors can explain why Western women are embracing Islamic faith traditions, some common motivations emerge. These include an attraction to Islam's high regard for family and community, its strict moral and ethical standards, and the rationality and spirituality of its theology, as well as a disillusionment with Christianity and with the unrestrained sexuality of so much of Western culture.

Download or read book Islam and Gender written by Adis Duderija and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-05-17 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given the intense political scrutiny of Islam and Muslims, which often centres on gendered concerns, Islam and Gender: Major Issues and Debates is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the key topics, problems and debates in this engaging subject. Split into three parts, this book places the discussion in its historical context, provides up-to-date case studies and delves into contemporary debate on the subject. This book includes discussion of the following important topics: Marriage and divorce Interpretations of the Qur’an and Sunna Male and female sexuality and sexual diversity Classical Islamic thought on masculinity and femininity Gender and hadith Polygamy and inheritance Adultery and sexual violence Veiling, female circumcision and crimes of honour Lived religiosities Gender justice in Islam. Islam and Gender is essential reading for students in religious studies, Islamic studies and gender studies, as well as those in related fields, such as cultural studies, politics, area studies, sociology, anthropology and history.

Download or read book Inside the Gender Jihad written by Amina Wadud and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A world-renowned professor of Islamic studies, Amina Wadud has long been at the forefront of what she calls the 'gender jihad,' the struggle for justice for women within the global Islamic community. In 2005, she made international headlines when she helped to promote new traditions by leading the Muslim Friday prayer in New York City, provoking a firestorm of media controversy and kindling charges of blasphemy among conservative Muslims worldwide. In this provocative book, "Inside the Gender Jihad", Wadud brings a wealth of experience from the trenches of the jihad to make a passionate argument for gender inclusiveness in the Muslim world. Knitting together scrupulous scholarship with lessons drawn from her own experiences as a woman, she explores the array of issues facing Muslim women today, including social status, education, sexuality, and leadership. A major contribution to the debate on women and Islam, Amina Wadud's vision for changing the status of women within Islam is both revolutionary and urgent.

Download or read book Qur an and Woman written by Amina Wadud and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1999-06-10 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fourteen centuries of Islamic thought have produced a legacy of interpretive readings of the Qu'ran written almost entirely by men. Now, with Qu'ran and Woman, Amina Wadud provides a first interpretive reading by a woman, a reading which validates the female voice in the Qu'ran and brings it out of the shadows. Muslim progressives have long argued that it is not the religion but patriarchal interpretation and implementation of the Qu'ran that have kept women oppressed. For many, the way to reform is the reexamination and reinterpretation of religious texts. Qu'ran and Woman contributes a gender inclusive reading to one of the most fundamental disciplines in Islamic thought, Qu'ranic exegesis. Wadud breaks down specific texts and key words which have been used to limit women's public and private role, even to justify violence toward Muslim women, revealing that their original meaning and context defy such interpretations. What her analysis clarifies is the lack of gender bias, precedence, or prejudice in the essential language of the Qur'an. Despite much Qu'ranic evidence about the significance of women, gender reform in Muslim society has been stubbornly resisted. Wadud's reading of the Qu'ran confirms women's equality and constitutes legitimate grounds for contesting the unequal treatment that women have experienced historically and continue to experience legally in Muslim communities. The Qu'ran does not prescribe one timeless and unchanging social structure for men and women, Wadud argues lucidly, affirming that the Qu'ran holds greater possibilities for guiding human society to a more fulfilling and productive mutual collaboration between men and women than as yet attained by Muslims or non-Muslims.

Download or read book Feminists Islam and Nation written by Margot Badran and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1996-04-01 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The emergence and evolution of Egyptian feminism is an integral, but previously untold, part of the history of modern Egypt. Drawing upon a wide range of women's sources--memoirs, letters, essays, journalistic articles, fiction, treatises, and extensive oral histories--Margot Badran shows how Egyptian women assumed agency and in so doing subverted and refigured the conventional patriarchal order. Unsettling a common claim that "feminism is Western" and dismantling the alleged opposition between feminism and Islam, the book demonstrates how the Egyptian feminist movement in the first half of this century both advanced the nationalist cause and worked within the parameters of Islam.

Download or read book Making Muslim Women European written by Fabio Giomi and published by Central European University Press. This book was released on 2021-03-30 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This social, cultural, and political history of Slavic Muslim women of the Yugoslav region in the first decades of the post-Ottoman era is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of the issues confronting these women. It is based on a study of voluntary associations (philanthropic, cultural, Islamic-traditionalist, and feminist) of the period. It is broadly held that Muslim women were silent and relegated to a purely private space until 1945, when the communist state “unveiled” and “liberated” them from the top down. After systematic archival research in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Austria, Fabio Giomi challenges this view by showing: • How different sectors of the Yugoslav elite through association publications, imagined the role of Muslim women in post-Ottoman times, and how Muslim women took part in the construction or the contestation of these narratives. • How associations employed different means in order to forge a generation of “New Muslim Women” able to cope with the post-Ottoman political and social circumstances. • And how Muslim women used the tools provided by the associations in order to pursue their own projects, aims and agendas. The insights are relevant for today’s challenges facing Muslim women in Europe. The text is illustrated with exceptional photographs.

Download or read book Feminist and Islamic Perspectives written by The Women and Memory Forum and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Hagar Poems written by Mohja Kahf and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2016-07-01 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Mohja Kahf ’s Hagar Poems is brilliantly original in its conception, thrillingly artful in its execution. Its range is immense, its spiritual depth is profound, it negotiates its shifts between archaic and the contemporary with utmost skill. There’s lyricism, there’s satire, there’s comedy, there’s theology of a high order in this book.” —Alicia Ostriker, author of For the Love of God: The Bible as an Open Book “Hagar/ Hajar the immigrant/exile/outcast/refugee mother of a people is given multiple voices and significance in Mohja Kahf’s new book of dramatic monologues, which also reinvents Pharaoh’s daughter, Zuleika, Aïsha, and Mary in poems that are at once lively and learned, agnostic and devout. The sequence on an American mosque, and the poet’s ambivalent love for what it represents, is unique in American poetry.” —Marilyn Hacker, author of A Stranger’s Mirror “‘Where have all the goddesses gone,’ writes Mohja Kahf, ‘I tracked down Isis / incognito on Cyprus. /She told me Ishtar / lived under the radar / in southern Iraq. . . .’ In Hagar Poems, Mohja Kahf’s hallmark qualities—irreverence, imagination, wit, poignancy—are all exuberantly in evidence. A wonderful read.” —Leila Ahmed, author of A Quiet Revolution: The Veil’s Resurgence, from the Middle East to America “This brilliant collection captures all the ‘patient threading of relationship’ between Hagar and Sarah as between women, and then between women and men, between human and God. . . . At every turn of the page [Kahf] refuses complacency and circumstance but opts instead for exposing the tenuousness of threads that tie and bind and then come loose before our eyes.” —From the foreword by Amina Wadud The central matter of this daring new collection is the story of Hagar, Abraham, and Sarah—the ancestral feuding family of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These poems delve into the Hajar story in Islam. They explore other figures from the Near Eastern heritage, such as Mary and Moses, and touch on figures from early Islam, such as Fatima and Aisha. Throughout, there is artful reconfiguring. Readers will find sequels and prequels to the traditional narratives, along with modernized figures claimed for contemporary conflicts. Hagar Poems is a compelling shakeup of not only Hagar’s story but also of current roles of all kinds of women in all kinds of relationships.

Download or read book Do Muslim Women Need Saving written by Lila Abu-Lughod and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2013-11-12 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Frequent reports of honor killings, disfigurement, and sensational abuse have given rise to a consensus in the West, a message propagated by human rights groups and the media: Muslim women need to be rescued. Lila Abu-Lughod boldly challenges this conclusion. An anthropologist who has been writing about Arab women for thirty years, she delves into the predicaments of Muslim women today, questioning whether generalizations about Islamic culture can explain the hardships these women face and asking what motivates particular individuals and institutions to promote their rights. In recent years Abu-Lughod has struggled to reconcile the popular image of women victimized by Islam with the complex women she has known through her research in various communities in the Muslim world. Here, she renders that divide vivid by presenting detailed vignettes of the lives of ordinary Muslim women, and showing that the problem of gender inequality cannot be laid at the feet of religion alone. Poverty and authoritarianism—conditions not unique to the Islamic world, and produced out of global interconnections that implicate the West—are often more decisive. The standard Western vocabulary of oppression, choice, and freedom is too blunt to describe these women's lives. Do Muslim Women Need Saving? is an indictment of a mindset that has justified all manner of foreign interference, including military invasion, in the name of rescuing women from Islam—as well as a moving portrait of women's actual experiences, and of the contingencies with which they live.