-Analysis-
An evolution in the Islamic world is advancing, bringing with it not only women but also men. It is the challenge launched a few decades ago now by progressive Muslim women who, one step after another, are breaking down the conservatism — and male-centered readings of the Islamic religious framework — that effectively block their emancipation and participation in the development of their societies.
The historical moment that marked the beginning of this evolution is certainly the election of Benazir Bhutto as the first female prime minister of Pakistan in 1988. The choice sparked a debate on female leadership in Muslim-majority countries (she was also the first woman elected to lead a Muslim-majority state).
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When the legitimacy of her leadership, as a woman, was challenged by conservative circles, a reinterpretation of Islamic texts from a feminist and progressive perspective began. That was the spark that ignited the debate on the role of Muslim women in contemporary societies.
Today, although nine Muslim-majority states have female heads of state or government, a sexist reading of Islam continues to be the biggest cause of gender inequality.
Questioning patriarchal traditions
This interpretation must be dismantled and countered from the sources. One pioneer was Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist Fatima Mernissi, who unearthed the histories of women in Islam from the time of the prophet Muhammad, questioning the authenticity of some patriarchal traditions.
Another is Amina Wadud, an African American theologian who converted to Islam. A lecturer at Virginia Commonwealth University, she caused a stir in 2005 when, invoking the Quranic figure Umm Waraqah (a female companion of the prophet Muhammad), she led Friday prayers in an Anglican church in New York packed with men and women. It was a first: a woman is allowed to lead prayer for women but not for men. And after her, others came.
A real revolution is taking place by returning to Islamic sources for an inclusive reading.
Over the past decade, a significant number of women-led mosques have emerged in Europe, such as the Inclusive Mosque Initiative in the United Kingdom, the Open Mosque in Switzerland, the Mariam Mosque in Denmark, the Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque in Germany, and the Fatima Mosque in France.
Many of these mosques are also mixed, and a real revolution is taking place within them — mixed marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims are being celebrated and homosexuality is being accepted — by returning to Islamic sources for an inclusive reading. And all issues that are difficult to address in a traditional Islamic context are being discussed.
With these new interpretations, the authority of established institutions and the scholarly consensus on religious norms are also questioned.
The voice of Islamic feminism
New networks have also emerged, such as the global movement demanding equal rights within the family (Musawah), the transnational advisory committee of intellectuals and theologians (Global Women’s Shura Council) or the conferences presented by the civic organization of Spanish Muslims (the Islamic Junta) in Barcelona.
There is not yet a single global acronym, but that does not mean the various networks do not move, from one part of the world to another, with a single voice: that of Islamic feminism.
In various countries, in fact, Islamic feminists have also made their way into existing institutions. In Morocco, Asma Lamrabet, who chairs the International Group of Study and Reflection on Women in Islam (GIERFI), associated it in 2008 with the country’s most influential religious institution, the Rabita Mohammedia des Oulémas.
In Turkey, the theologian Hidayet Tuksal’s work to reinterpret the hadith (narratives about the prophet Muhammad) has been integrated into a large government project to remove misogynistic hadiths — attributed to the prophet but not preserved in the Quran — from publications by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which oversees the country’s mosques.
In Indonesia, many female theologians have been engaged in feminist reinterpretations of religious texts for at least 20 years.
Taking a snapshot of this movement, one can certainly point out that many of them are initially “pious women,” others are feminists and believers, and some act in the name of citizenship and democracy. All of them, however, refuse to be discriminated against within their religion and reserve the right to challenge unequal interpretations of Islam that underlie personal status laws.
