Elizabeth Segr The Rise Of The Islamic Feminist

Islamic feminism is a fusion of two terms that have been widely considered to be contradictory; with this research project it will give people a better insight on a set of beliefs whose intention is misinterpreted. Women in Islam are often misconceived as submissive, oppressed, and weak. The true essence of women in Islam couldn’t be further away from this ignorantly formed stereotype. This generalization has hijacked the true narrative of the Muslim woman feminist. Since Muslim women have been the recipients of so many stereotypes, it is imperative that society has a better understanding of their beliefs in Islamic feminism and the many movements that caused a shift towards people’s perceptions of Muslim women.

Women’s over all Rights in

Once feminism hit the American and European countries, most of the Islamic world was still under colonial occupation. (Segran). Muslim women used these feminists’ ideologies towards their regimes in order to stop the oppression towards women. Over the twentieth century, as Muslim countries gained independence, the rise of political Islam only worsened the tension between Islam and feminism. The divide between the two ideologies was particularly obvious in 1979-the year the Iranian Revolution and the same year that United Nations ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (Segran). In the midst of the Iranian Revolution there was a clash between political Islam and the idea of equality before the law. “Without the option of being both Muslim and feminist, some chose to abandon their faith altogether” (Segran). Since their government suppressed their beliefs towards feminism, Iranian women became angry and took an anti-religious attitude, viewing Islam as a religion that oppressed women. However during that same era, Muslim women started to come out with the concept of fusing the two ideologies (Islam and feminism) creating a whole new outlet for Muslim women to break out of the mold created by the patriarchal

In the late 1980s is when she founded SIS, Anwar believed that a “human rights framework would not have meaning to the average Muslim woman… Islam on the other hand is a source of values and principles. We needed to engage with religion and provide answers to these questions in ways that were relevant to their lives (Segran).” Musawah, is the global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family. She is at the forefront of the women’s movement pushing for an end to the use of Islam to justify discrimination against women. The great works of Sisters in Islam in understanding Islam from a rights perspective and creating a strong public voice of Muslim women demanding equality and justice led to initiate Musawah in 2009. This movement brings together activists and scholars to create new feminist knowledge in Islam “and with knowledge comes the authority and courage to speak with conviction in the public space to promote and demand for equality and justice in Islam