9 woman this month | October 2011 | "Feminism” has become a dirty word. It shouldn’t have and it’s bizarre that it has, but it has. So, what is it about this particular term for female equality that makes it stick in people’s throats? It isn’t just that men see it as a label for the disruption to their status quo, because there are many, educated women who also recoil at its mention. In some parts of the world, the word has been hijacked by minority groups who have used it as an excuse for extreme behaviour. It has become identifiable with bra-burning and man-hating, which is a shame because these things have nothing to do with the original tenets of feminism. In this part of the world, though, the stigma attached to the term possibly has more to do with the fact that it is seen as a Western term, or a Western phenomenon. Wrong again. One of the most interesting things that I gleaned from my conversation with Dr. Margot Badran was that feminism, as a term and a concept, developed fairly simultaneously in the East and the West. It seems, then, that this association with the West may just be another method, contrived by opponents of the feminist cause, for putting women off the push for equality. It might seem odd to solicit the opinions of an American on the subject of Islam, but it would be imprudent to let her nationality cloud your reading. Dr. Badran is more than qualified to talk about such subjects. She is an academic, lecturer and author, whose career has centred on gender and feminism. She has spoken globally, held many fellowships, won a plethora of awards, helped set up the women’s studies programme at the University of Sana in Yemen and has written on women and gender for the Al-Ahram weekly in Cairo. More than this, though, she has made it her life’s work to study the role of women in the Muslim world and has dedicated herself to reading, understanding and discussing the teachings of the Qur’an. According to Dr. Badran, “feminism” appears as a word in the late 19th century, but it doesn’t actually enter the English vocabulary until the next century. Interestingly, it appears to develop in both the United States and Egypt at roughly the same time. So, to call it a singularly Western phenomenon is inappropriate. In fact, in Egypt it emerges in the context of the rise of Islamic modernism and as part of the anti-colonial struggle, which argued against the inequalities of Western colonisation. Badran points out that: “certain patriarchal forces or conservative groups know that if they want to suppress a movement in the Middle East, the most effective way to do it is to label it Western, as something that is beyond Islam and a threat to the culture. This is a pernicious manipulation, but it has such power that people buy it”. “It is a contentious word, but use it, to uphold the value of it, because if even I won’t, then who is going to?”. It seems glaringly obvious to me and to Dr. Badran, that the more time one spends denigrating the word, the less time we will spend concentrating on its meaning — social justice and equality. Because this is exactly what Islamic feminism refers to, in its most basic sense. “It is an articulation of the idea of the equality of all human beings. What makes it Islamic feminism is that this understanding of social justice and gender equality is derived directly from reading the Qur’an. It is a feminist discourse that is grounded in interpretation of the Qur’an and also the Hadith”, says Dr. Badran. The Qur’an is extremely complex. To suggest that it is not open to interpretation is to ignore its depth and value. As Dr. Badran points out, “You could choose to read into it some degree of inequality. For example, the Qur’an mentions polygamy. Marrying up to four wives is technically allowed”, so it might appear to condone the practise. However, “the conditions are so stringent that if you actually followed them, you’d find it very difficult to actually practice it”. In the society in which the Qur’an was revealed, polygamy was rampant. So, according to Dr. Badran, the Qur’an is less concerned with excusing the practice and more with trying to contain it. “The Qur’an contains a message of human equality and justice and encourages working toward the implementation of these ideals in the real world, but many people get stuck on what is permissible, rather than on aiming to live out these higher ideals or principles”. Knowing the context in which the Qur’an was conceived, asserts Dr. Badran, will help you to understand it as a more egalitarian document. And it is this egalitarian interpretation which fuels Islamic feminism. If you ask me, now is the perfect time to get over any disdain for the terms and to discuss the principles. In Bahrain, more and more women are finding their public voice and asserting their right to be heard. Now, more than ever, we can see that ideas about women circulated by conservatives — such as the idea that a woman’s place is solely in the home — are problematic. Women are not a singular, homogeneous group. We are each unique and must be allowed to act so. Dr. Badran suggests that, quite apart from letting the term “feminism” intimidate or bother us, the best thing we can do is use it and talk about it. “We need discourse to help us clarify, realign and legitimise our thinking. If people are going to use religion to tell you what to do, you need to be clear about your own understanding and the justification for it. Islamic feminists are able to say, “excuse me, no I don’t have to do what you say, and this is why, according to the Qur’an’”. Even if it is structural changes that need to take place in order for women to have equal rights to men, it is study, discussion and greater understanding that will facilitate the movement to make these changes happen. For example, the famous revision of the family law, in Morocco in 2004, making men and women equal heads of the family, came about after many forces, including well-versed feminists, campaigned for its modification. Having spoken to Dr. Badran, it seems that to suggest, as many do, that women already receive equal rights, is misguided. It is also unfair to suggest that the rights that women do not receive are not afforded to them by the Qur’an. There is still a long way to go before women can enjoy gender equality and social justice. We are lucky enough to live in a country which permits female academia and allows women a public voice, so it is about time that more of us started using it. It is abundantly clear that, of all the words we should seek to outlaw, “feminism” isn’t one of them. It is a concept that has been with us for years, in word, and for centuries, in practise. It is the term for our freedom, the term for our rights and our equality. Most of your day-to-day practices, including reading this magazine, wouldn’t be available to you without it. Even if you find the word irritating, it is silly to use that as an excuse not to talk about female rights. A word is a word, but injustice is all-consuming. We need discourse to help us clarify, realign and legitimise our thinking. If people are going to use religion to tell you what to do, you need to be clear about your own understanding and the justification for it.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk0MTkxMQ==