Islamic Feminism: Challenges & Possibilities for Women's Equality - Research Paper

Introduction

The scope of this study discusses the fact that Islamic religious teachings and their interpretation can still help Muslim women have a role in society, and seek for equality between men and women as active members in their communities. There has been a transnational representation of Islamic feminists around the world who come together to strategize about the alternatives to patriarchal Islam. However, the objectives of such activism have not been adequately met. The proposal, therefore, aims at assessing the transnational representation of activists towards the Islamic feminism.

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Research Questions and Goals

The following research question will guide this project:

1. How have Muslim women succeeded in representing their nations to achieve the overall objective of Islamic feminists?
2. What initiatives should Muslim women do to ensure that they achieve alternatives to patriarchal Islam?

The aim of Islamic feminism has been at the forefront to mobilize activists aimed at working towards a common goal of achieving the reform of the religiously framed family laws and thus preventing the rolling back of equal rights within the society as conservative patriarchal forces try to impose their version of Islam. This project aims at improving the unmasking of the scope of Islamic feminism and the steps it needs to achieve its objectives.

Final Product

This work is generally a research paper, which intends to assess various aspects of the Islamic feminism across the world. Research has shown that Muslim women are some of the most oppressed groups within the global society based on the numerous patriarchal beliefs as taught in the Quran. They can, therefore, prevent the rolling back of equal rights within the society and ensure that they also gain the same rights as their male counterparts. The feminist is more concerned with developing an ethical reading of the foundation of Islam, which includes the Quran and Sunna to find some form of religious exegesis that will support their feminist viewpoint.

Research Plan

I intend to find the information related to this project from the research articles and journals because I believe that they are the most reliable. The use of the peer-reviewed journal articles will further provide me with insights regarding some of the available literature in the same area. This will enable to refer whenever necessary.

Remaining Question

• Has Islamic Feminism achieved its objectives?
• Are there any other alternatives to alternatives to patriarchal Islam?

Research

According to Herr (2), the "other woman" has always confronted feminism. The "other woman" refers to the woman who decides to abandon their cultures and beliefs, to fight for the rights of women. Islamic feminists tend to denounce their culture as it is oppressive and patriarchal. Women from the third world have suffered victims of their own cultures and they face many hardships in their pursuance of gender equality, as compared to their counterparts who come from developed countries. Transnational feminism is a branch of Western feminism, which tends to advocate for the rights of women. According to many transnational feminists, Western feminism goes against what feminism represents because they criticize the vocal and active women in politics (Herr, 5). The success of the "American women movement" in 1920 brought about a new notion of feminism, which acknowledged the diversities among women. The globalization of feminism began between 1975 and 1985. The decade is commonly known as the UN decade of women.

In 1878, several women from the third world feminists identified that the idea of women being united just because they are of the same gender was a mere myth (Taylor & Zine, 15). It was these women, including El Sadaawi from Egypt and Fatima Mernissi, who initiated the transnational feminism. This new movement aimed at organizing issues that identified the complexity of the intersection between gender and sexuality. The women who birthed transnational feminism argued that it was different from global feminism. The latter seemed to give a larger focus on Western women, more than the women from third world countries, including Islamic women and women of color. The Muslim women brought up a different understanding of their religion, which gave the Muslim women a role and sense of belonging in society.

About half a billion of the World's women population are Muslim. These women come from the almost 45 Islamic countries and their highest number is in the South Asian continent (Herr, 24). Gender inequality has always been a global issue since the past. The society was male-dominated in the past years, and there were restrictions for the women in doing certain things. However, gender equality amongst Muslim women surpasses that of other women. The Islamic laws demand women to be submissive to their husbands and all other males in society. This inequality was also associated with early marriages because Muslim girls could not get any education. According to the transnational feminists, the interpretations of the Islamic writings was wrong because it was done in a way that supported patriarchy. After studying the laws well, the feminists concluded that Islamic rules are accommodative of gender equality.

The Muslim women have succeeded in representing their nations well, in the achievement of the overall objective of Islamic feminism. Over the past years, the number of women in political and managerial seats has increased. In Muslim society, women live under dual systems. The system consists of two authorities, which are the Western legal systems and the family laws built on Islamic beliefs and cultures (Zimmerman, 15). The civil laws give women equal rights as men, but Islamic rules have placed many obstacles to the rights of women. The transnational feminists have made quite a remarkable effort in abolishing Islamic laws, which tend to discriminate against women. This move has allowed women to take part in normal activities that were only done by men. Such activities include voting, vying for managerial positions, driving and having their voices heard.

According to the Islamic family rules, a man can marry several wives, and the wife has does not have a say on the issue. Presently, women have added clauses on the marriage contracts which give a woman an option of divorce once a man takes another wife. The clauses also have sections that give the Muslim women a say when it comes to the post-divorce division of property. Muslim women across all countries have made many developments in terms of education and health. In the past, women from the Middle East and Northern Asia used to record the lowest levels of education (Deb, 21). Transnational feminism has changed this because presently, Muslim women from the MENA region have attained almost the same educational level as compared to men.

In the past, most people associated patterns of extended families with Islamic cultures. Nowadays, statistics have indicated that Islamic families have shifted to the pattern of nuclear families. The numbers of early marriages have also reduced due to the penetration of education amongst Muslim girls. Such major shifts tend to affect the population growth amongst Muslims. A reduction in the population results in an erosion of the Islamic family rules because people have become more civilized. The civilized people give rise to a generation that does not follow the Islamic family rules, but instead, they would find them uptight. The transnational feminism amongst the Islamic women has addressed greatly on the issues of gender-based violence. Such violence includes domestic violence, female circumcision and honor killings. As indicated by Brook (9), transnational feminists brought up this issue, during the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995.

The number of women participating in the economy differs in different countries. In most developing countries, women often take part in the informal sectors of the economy. The transnational feminists have done away with the female-homemaker/male-breadwinner roles. Globalization resulted in job insecurities and there was the need of getting more people into the labor force. As a result, more women were absorbed in the job market. Globalization brought about civilization, which triggered the increase of transnational feminists.

According to Al-Sharman (14), Muslim women should put some initiatives in place, which will ensure the achievement of alternatives to patriarchal Islam. One such initiative is the creation of awareness amongst people in Muslim communities and states. The Muslim men and women tend to uphold patriarchy in their society because they have grown up knowing that women should be submissive to men. Besides being submissive, women should not undertake any job or task considered 'manly'. Transnational feminists should embark on the task of enlightening the Muslim society so that they can do away with their beliefs. Muslim women should teach the society that a woman could be submissive and respectful to her husband, without being oppressed and discriminated against. Such an idea will not do away with the Islamic teachings, but provide alternatives for the patriarchal Islamic teachings.

Secondly, Muslim women should push for equal education. Equality in education means that young girls get the same quality of education as boys. Transnational feminists tend to advocate for employment opportunities for women. Girls have to go to school first, for them to land jobs and managerial positions at the workplace. An educated woman will be able to vie for political positions and this will play a major role in women empowerment. Giving education opportunities to both boys and girls is an alternative to the patriarchal Islamic teachings (Al-Sharman, 19). The Muslim community has to understand that their societies and states will have a growth in economic development when the literacy levels go up. A patriarchal community lags in economic development because women in society do not contribute to the economy.

Educating Muslim women helps in creating a platform where they can empower their communities. Most Muslim women's movement has an academic setting, especially the social sciences. Social scientists goals of doing away with the "invisibility" of women (Deb, 5). Social scientists aim at improving the perception of women in society, by campaigning against gender inequality. Education opens ways of doing away with the patriarchal Islamic culture because people become more enlightened. Education also allows people to study the behaviors of older members of society. Studying the history and behaviors of older people allows them to understand why they made the Islamic rules. The Muslim feminists do not aim at criticizing the Islamic rules. Instead, they provide a different perception that accommodates both genders.

The objective of Islamic feminism is to achieve a society that is free from gender inequality. The transnational feminists have been able to change the perception of Islamic rules in major parts of the Muslim society (Sharify-Funk, 99). Girls can now go to school and this has reduced the numbers of early marriages. Women have also gained empowerment, which has helped them in attaining managerial positions at the workplace. In some Muslim countries, women could not partake in activities like driving a vehicle. Presently, such laws have been done away with, and this has reduced discrimination against women. Muslim women have joined politics and such jobs people have stopped terming those jobs as 'male jobs'.

The move against gender discrimination began years ago, with the Western nations. The th...