Feminism has evolved over time, especially in the context of political, historical, cultural, and social norms of society in which it has originated.
The nature of feminist thought is multifaced; in other words, it is not a monolithic movement, and all feminists don’t think alike. Perhaps this makes it hard to pin down the exact development of the thought over the years.
Feminist thought started to develop with the publication of Mary Wollstonecraft’s book “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” in 1792. A hundred years later, “The Subjection of Women’’ an essay by John Stuart Mill; increased the awareness among the masses about the plights of women in the society.
The thought began to develop in theory and on the ground in the shape of protests and movements. Many political movements were born out of it, Suffrage movement in US and European movements in the 19th century.
Feminist movements resulted in inclusive laws that guaranteed more political, economic, and social rights for women. The struggle is still going on to give more powers to women, and the victories of the past movements were instead the birth of a more consistent struggle.
Many feminists assert that ‘feminism’ is a western concept, but non-western and other feminists claim that while the feminism of the west was developing, Muslims and other women were revolting against patriarchy at home.
Feminism: Muslim and Western
Western feminism is not articulated within any religious framework. However, the feminism that emerged in the Muslim thought is very deeply concerned with religion. Religion is an integral part of feminism in all Muslim thoughts, primarily because it is an inextricable element of Muslim societies.
Meanwhile, some Western secular and radical Muslim feminists assert that Islam and feminism cannot be reconciled because both are incompatible. They argue that feminism aims to liberate and give equality to women; Islam, according to them, prohibits any kind of quality and liberation.
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Many Muslim feminists also criticize religion and state that religion itself is based on hierarchy and patriarchic framework. The rising fundamentalism is also encouraging such views on Islam. They believe that liberty, freedom, and equality can be best achieved in the secular environment.
Feminists like Valentine M. Moghadam, Taslima Nasreen, Haideh Moghissi reject religion altogether and claim that it is not compatible with secular values and opt for western thought.
Secular and Islamic feminism converge on many issues, but the main aim of both the thoughts is to seek equality, societal changes, and legal reforms for the women.
The collaboration between both schools of thought has led to the birth of “Hybrid Feminism,” which is the mixture of secular and Islamic thought.
Islamic Feminist Thought
They claim that the religion of Islam emerged as a revolutionary religion that is flexible, self-adapting, and self-renewing. Many Islamic feminists like Pakistani thinker Asma Barlas, Mernissi, and others assert that Prophet Muhammad was a revolutionary.
He rejected the violence and sought a pluralistic society safeguarding the rights of every human being. These feminist scholars state that women played their part in His revolution, and that is unquestionable.
They often cite chapter 33 (The Clans), verse 35, and claim that these verses attest to full equality among men and women.
Many Muslim scholars also sought the way of Ijtihad, on the issues not discussed in the Quran and Hadith. But the Islamic feminists say that using the process; many male scholars establish misogynist and self-serving interpretations.
Barlas says that the misogynist version of Islam is merely the orthodox and self-serving interpretation of Islam. Therefore, Muslim women engage in studies and research to oppose that exclusive interpretation.
The thought, theories, and discourse generated by Muslim women were developed in reaction to various social and political contexts. It includes the values of secular, especially the formation of the secular nation-state.
It perceives religion as an essential element and thinks that the liberating of women can be achieved by reconstructing the past.
