Islamic Feminism

1
Islamic Feminism

• Liz Belton

2
History of feminism

• French originally
• Moved to England and America
• Adopted by Arab Muslim countries

3
Feminism

• In Arabic term is ambiguous
• Describe anything pertaining to women

4
Margot Badran

• Feminist is a woman who is aware of the
  constraints placed on her by society because of
  her gender
• Want a more equal gender system with new roles
  for women and new relations between men and women
• Women should be seen as independent agencies

5
Egyptian Feminist Movement

• Specific expression of generic or universal
  movement to redefine gender roles

6
Omaima Abou- Bakr

• New term Islamic Feminism
• Work through Islamic teachings, Quranic verses,
  Hadith
• Campaign for womens rights, social equality, and
  gender balance in culture specific struggle

7
Debate on Islamic Feminism

• Islam defines culture and society so much that it
  can not be removed from the struggle for womens
  rights
• People who attempt to leave religion out are
  labeled as Godless or overly Western
• Islam is already a religion of equality so an
  Islamic feminist is a contradiction
• The term feminism is too Western and therefore
  secular, Western feminism divides men and women
  and takes women away from the family

8
American View of Islamic Feminism

• Can not get past veil and hijab
• Muslim women feel obliged to defend their culture
  when confronted by Western feminists even if
  there are problems with it

9
Egypt

• Birthplace of Islamic Feminism
• 1919 Nationalist Revolution
• Egyptian Feminist Union 1923
• Bint El-Nile 1948
• 1970s to 1990s resurgence in conservative Islam

10
Family Law in Egypt

• Only law still under Islamic law
• Only applied to Muslims in the country
• Reformed in 1970 to give women more rights
• 1985 new reforms taken away because of pressure
  from Islamisists
• Two months later new benefits were returned

11
Huda Sharwi

• Found Egyptian Feminist Union
• Come from harem system, married at 13
• Remove veil
• Campaign for womens voting rights, equal
  education, reform of marriage laws
• Combine Western feminism, Egyptian nationalism,
  and Egyptian culture to make Egyptian Feminism

12
Zainab al- Ghazali

• Disciple of Sharawi but break with ideas
• Islam gives Muslim women their rights
• Need to educate women and return to tradition
• Muslim Womens Association in 1936
• First job is mother and wife but permitted to do
  anything else they want to
• An Islamic state is ideal, have not had one yet