The quintessential text of second wave feminism, friedan s 1963 book became one of the original pieces of feminist theory to become a mainstream hit. Remembering islamic feminist fatema mernissi mernissi, a moroccan sociologist whose books include beyond the veil, islam and democracy and dreams of. You might think islam and feminism are mutually exclusive, but our guest amani alkhatahtbeh is here to say otherwise. Between feminism and islam university of minnesota press. I also removed a book by nonie darwish, who was raised in a muslim family but who is herself a convert to christianity. It is a kneejerk response that shows at best ignorance and. Islam and its ideology dealing with women, muslim feminism, dress code, family and marriage, women and gender in islam, etc. This is a list of important participants in muslim feminism, originally sorted by surname within each period. In the last part of the book she seems to suggest that islamic femi. This is an appeal to the subscribers, contributors, advertisers and wellwishers of economic and political weekly epw, published by sameeksha trust, a public charitable trust registered with the office of the charity commissioner, mumbai, india.
Islam was not relegated to the tiny, sometimes frustrating and seemingly arbitrary details of practice, but rather entered the larger picture of spirituality and worship that contextualized my womanhood. Through a careful sociological and ethnographic account of moroccan feminist and islamist womens organizations, zakia salime shows how the two have transformed each other through decades of activism, debate, and engagement. Muslim feminists rewrite boundaries on the street and at home mona eltahawy says as a female in saudi arabia you have two options. Thats like saying you can be a ku klux klan member and an antifascist. This may provide a lesson to politicians and opinion writers. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
It is incredibly hard to find books that normalize diversity, rather than point it out as different. The book became a new york times bestseller and its author a celebrity. Vindication of the rights of women by mary wollstonecraft. Fatema mernissi and islamic feminism literary theory and. The muslim feminist group scrambling frances leftright divide on islam, disagreements within the two political families may matter more than the. Books are the best source to convey the message to the mass of people.
Through a vivid ethnography of muslim and secular women activists in jakarta, indonesia, rachel rinaldo shows that this is not always the case. The success of transnational religious and feminist movements throughout the globe is simultaneously endorsing the tension between essentialised notions of islam and the west and directing the move towards reinterpreting modernity and redefining. It may include, for instance, earlier authors who did not selfidentify as feminists but have been claimed to have furthered feminist consciousness by a resistance of male dominance expressed in their works. The egyptian feminist movement reached out to other arabs in the late 1930s and the 1940s. Little feminist is working tirelessly to feature and help publish childrens book that showcase difference as natural. The list will also discuss the names of top feminist books. Really a great blog, orbala, and most of your articles are terribly interesting and brilliantly written. And she produced one of the first books on feminism within an arab middle east and in a muslim context beyond the veil, which came out in 1975. These are the faces of muslim women throughout history. The author, a research fellow at the institute for the studies of religion at baylor university and a research associate at john jay college of criminal justice at cuny, challenges the ubiquitous. Some people do use the arguments of islamic feminism to defend islam from attacks relating to women and gender. Let me know what books you feel should be added to this list. Thats just a small sample of the responses i got on twitter last week when i said i was taking part in a panel discussion about islam and feminism. While all of their contributions were clearly publisher spam to any list tagged muslim, most were authored by men, and it was those that i removed.
The best books on islam and feminism five books expert. So in this article, we will understand feminism by the means of various feminist books. Research resources for the study of women in islam. The efu played a key role in the institutionalization of panarab feminism, or arab feminism, as distinct from feminisms in individual arab nations. Islamic feminism is a relatively recent current of thought being developed by a transnational network of activists in widely contrasting sociopolitical contexts. Adrienne rich was an awardwinning poet, longtime american feminist, and prominent lesbian. We love that this book isnt about being muslim, but simply features muslim sisters. The islamic faith began with a series of divine revelations, which were revealed to the prophet muhammad beginning in the early 7th century ce. Unsettling a common claim that feminism is western and dismantling the alleged opposition between feminism and islam, the book demonstrates how the egyptian feminist movement in the first half of this century both advanced the nationalist cause and worked within the parameters of islam. Feminist muslim susan carland slams islam sceptics in book.
The politics and paradoxes is a case study of the complex phenomenon of a nonwestern genre of feminism which is emerging in a majority muslim society. A muslim feminist, i was sure, could not make that sort of nuanced distinction. Books on islamic feminism freedom from the forbidden. Muslim feminist blogs from facebook islamic feminism is an active and vibrant movement that is the subject of inquiry not merely among academics and scholars. Muslim women on faith, feminism, sexuality and race main market by khan, mariam isbn. The debate over womens rights and islam is often politicized and riddled with stereotypes. The muslim feminist group scrambling frances leftright.
This was a book in a secular voice, in parts even a secularist voice or one that takes an antiislamic stance. Muslim feminists rewrite boundaries on the street and at. Rich won the national book award in 1974 for diving into the wreck, but refused to accept the award individually, instead sharing it with fellow nominees audre lorde and. Feminists, islam, and nation princeton university press. Islam gender equality, gay rights and total egalitarianism according to amani from apologies for my accent. Thank you too for sharing the list of books on islamic feminism etc. Saba mahmood is one muslim feminist who is a little different and worth looking into. Aysha hidayatullahs 2014 book surveys the breadth of this literature and summarizes the major works and themes in this area. Islamic feminism is defined by islamic scholars as being more radical than secular feminism, and as being anchored within the discourse of islam with the quran as its central text. Islamic feminism dealing with problematic gender thinking and practices checks and rereads religious texts, and offers clarifications in favor of an egalitarian reading and practice of islam. Besides nur jehan, we hear of the prophet muhammad s wife khadija, who saw the promise of an orphaned young man and was the first to accept islam, and.
To be free, hirsi ali claimed, muslim women must renounce their faith and their cultures. Islam and feminism are often thought of as incompatible. A muslim feminist looks at sex economic and political weekly. She wrote more than a dozen volumes of poetry and several nonfiction books. Muhammads revelations went on to form the basis of the quran, the holy book of islam, and they gave rise to a worldwide faith that now numbers over 1. Prominent muslim feminist and wife of the projects waleed aly dr susan carland claims she was treated to an unprovoked lecture on female genital mutilation by a shop owner. The discourse of arabism and islam became more prominent in the articulation of the widening agenda. Her book politics of piety looks at how egyptian muslim women study islam and how they support each other in learning fiqh and whatnot from a womans perspective.
It may include, for instance, earlier authors who did not selfidentify as feminists but have been claimed to have furthered feminist consciousness by a resistance of. Fatema mernissis 1940 2015 work explores the relationship between sexual ideology, gender identity, sociopolitical organization, and the status of women in islam. Best feminist books this is a list of books any feminist, new feminist, or a soontobe feminist should read. Rife with awestruck veneration of the empowered west, hirsi alis recipe for liberation for muslim women was eagerly consumed.