Book: Muslim Women, Feminism & Liberalism

Synopsis – Muslim women and their ‘emancipation’ remains a key project of liberal universalists. The Muslim woman and her role in society has unwittingly become a front line in this cacophony of voices to embrace liberal ‘modernity’. From politicians to pundits, the obsession with the Muslim woman’s dress, habits, roles, motivations and place in a Muslim family seems to have become a political project driven by a wider desire to engender an Islamic reformation. We plan, through this edited book (each chapter will be written by a different writer), to bring together genuine voices of Muslim women, intelligently tracing the historical and present-day political project to embrace feminism and undermine Islamic social values.

Update: Although some chapters have now been taken, we are still looking for writers to contribute and would like to request your submissions.

The proposed draft chapters

1. Feminism and the Muslim World: Tracking the history of this political project and why it was tied up with colonialism. The emancipation of the Muslim woman was often used as a disingenuous cover to break up the Muslim family and community and assuage liberal sentiments back home about the moral underpinnings of imperialism.

2. What is feminism? The term ‘feminism’ is oft-misunderstood and today used synonymously with women’s rights. If you critique feminism you are against women’s rights and for misogyny. The framing of the debate in this way underpins a broader project of liberal universalism. What is feminism and why do we argue the mainstreaming of this idea obscures its ideological roots. How should a Muslim woman engage with terms like ‘equality’, ‘patriarchy’ and ‘misogyny’?

3. Why are Muslim women turning to feminism? Certainly, feminism has to be critiqued. But the parlous state of Muslim societies leaves the door open for Muslim women to seek their rights through feminist activism. This chapter charts some of the key problems in the Muslim world and how women are subject to unspeakable injustices compounded by some in the religious community that overlook their concerns and dismiss the failure of modern Muslim majority societies.

4. The Islamic rights of women: Allah (swt) revealed to His Messenger (saw) rights that are safeguarded for the Muslim woman. Yet these rights have been obscured and devalued for over a century, when colonialism undermined the social fabric of Muslim societies. This chapter takes a look at these rights, referencing traditional scholarly understanding.

5. The reform project to create a Muslim feminism – researching and disclosing how governments east and west attempt to promote feminism as a cover for a broader reform project.

6. The impact of feminism on young Muslim women – looking at how this project has been very successful in changing future Muslim minds through cultural and educational platforms. Young Muslims, especially in urban centres in the Muslim world and on university campuses in the west have been co-opted into adopting liberal positions on a range of issues. Masked in more benign endeavours, young Muslim women have been reorientated to become hyper consumers, obsessed about beauty, distanced from their families and their notions of modesty and concepts about marriage have been reformatted to conform to liberal sensitivities.

7. The modest fashion façade – one outlet for this cultural assault is the separation of the spiritual, moral and motivational reasons behind an action. In the pursuit to commodify religion, the marketeers have sought ways to separate the hijab from its religious basis and commercialise it. Like most items of women’s fashion, the modest fashion industry seeks to turn hijab into an item of beautification and even sexualisation, running contrary to its actual aim.

8. The Muslim family – the Muslim family is a key institution within an Islamic society and the woman together with the man plays a key role therein. But what is this role? How did Islam raise the status of women by placing the duties of motherhood and responsibility over the household and to what end? This chapter will look at this sacred duty but also challenge the un-Islamic traditions that developed as a response to the west’s cultural imperialism over a sincere reading of the scripture.

9. Work and careers – the thorny subject of the Muslim woman and work sits uncomfortably in Muslim communities. How far should a Muslim woman dedicate to her careers? This chapter looks to first setup an Islamic foundation to the discussion about careers and then address the modern dilemma of the capitalist worker, selling your soul to your company and how this drive decapitates the Muslim family.

10. Reconciling the gender wars – Islam places a great emphasis on cooperation between men and women in society. Yet our communities echo the broader gender wars in society, where men and women are constantly pitted against one another. How does Islam deal with cooperation in a very practical sense. This chapter will also address how Islam desexualises the relationship of men and women in society, encourages genuine cooperation and places rights and obligations at its core.

11. How can women assert their Islamic rights? This book has discussed the challenges and proposed a range of Islamic solutions, yet how practically can these rights be asserted? This chapter raises the duty of Muslim women and men to call for the Islamic rights of women in Muslim communities and societies. How can this be done and where does the work begin?

Editor - Farhat Amin

*Update - Some of our writers below - we are still looking for writers for some chapters. Please contact us.

Here is a brief summary of some of our writers:

Dr. Dinar Dewi Kania & Ummi farhah, M.IRKH, Ph.D (Cand)

Dinar holds a Doctorate degree in Islamic Education and Thought at the University of Ibn Khaldun, Indonesia. She lectures at the Trisakti Postgraduate Program and STID Mohammad Natsir and Jakarta. She is also a researcher at the (Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought and Civilization (INSISTS), Director of the Center for Gender Studies (CGS), and Head of Research Department at AILA Indonesia.

As an academic researcher, Dinar has authored books, edited and contributed to anthologies, and published journal articles in the fields of gender studies, ethics,  epistemology and Islamic Thought. She is also an Editor in Chief of an academic journal and peer reviewer for other international journal.

Dinar’s books include inter alia :

  (1) Co-Editor and Contributor of Anthology: "Filsafat Ilmu: Perspektif Islam dan Barat" (Philosophy of Knowledge : Islamic and Western Perspectives )

  (2) Editor and Contributor of Anthology: "Delusi Kesetaraan Gender: Tinjauan Kritis Konsep Gender" (Gender Equality Delusion : Critical Study toward the Concept of Gender);

  (3) Author of "Pemikiran Epistemologi Syed M. Naquib Al-Attas Dan Frithjof Schuon" (SMN Al-Attas and Frithjof Schuon Thoughts on Epistemology)

  (4)  Contributor of Anthology: Framework Studi Islam (Islamic Studies Framework).

  (5) Lead Author of "Transformasi Menuju Fitrah: LGBT Dalam Perspektif Keindonesiaan" (Transformation towards Fitrah: LGBT in an Indonesian perspective)

(6) Contributor of Anthology : Diskursus Soal Islam, Politik dan Hubungan Internasional (Discourse on Islam, Politics and International Relations)

Nuriddeen Knight research fellow for Yaqeen Institute.

Nuriddeen completed an MA in psychology with a focus on child and family from Columbia University. Alongside her academic degree, she studied traditional Islamic knowledge including Islamic law, theology, spirituality and prophetic biography with local scholars in NY and NJ and in the majalis in Amman, Jordan.

She is the author of 40 Hadith of ‘Aisha, a collection of 40 English Hadith narrated by our Lady Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her. Her upcoming book is entitled, ‘Gender, Faith and Society’, her current interests include women’s issues, Islam in modernity and ethical living. You can read her ongoing commentary and reflections on these issues and more on her blog, bythefigandtheolive.com

Farhat Amin is a teacher, writer, and host of Muslima Mindset Podcast. She is a researcher, writer, and founder of The Thinking Muslim. In the UK, Farhat has delivered lectures on Women in Islam and Feminism. She has also authored a number of children’s books and runs a Muslim educational resources company.  Muslima Mindset Podcast 

Umm Affan Hashmi dentist by qualification, home educating and stay at home mom by choice and a student of deen for life. She's passionate about helping women feel confident in their identity and many roles as a Muslimah. She blogs over at www.theoddmuslimah.com

Sahra Abdullahi is a writer and a researcher of sociolinguistics. She has for many years been an active member of the Muslim community in London and has a deep interest in Islamic studies in conjunction with studies of modernity and liberalism.

Bleta Januzi is studying International Relations and International Law. She is also a Martial Artist in Japanese Ju-jitsu and an MMA instructor for women and children. 

Nour Goda is a writer and educator who has delivered lectures on the subject of feminism and marriage. She blogs over at www.nourmgoda.com

Laura El Alam embraced Islam in the year 2000. She is a writer, editor, and mother of five. Her work has been published in Muslimmatters.org, Why Islam, About Islam, and Al Jumuah. She is the founder of www.seaglasswritingandediting.com