Islam Feminists Urge Gender Jihad

MuslimSister

Islam feminists urge gender jihad

Organisers of the first international congress on Islamic feminism are calling for a "gender jihad".

Organiser Abdennur Prado Pavon says the struggle for gender equality in Islamic countries involves refuting chauvinist interpretations of Muslim teachings.

The congress is being held in Spain, organisers say, because they want their message to reach the growing number of Muslim women in Europe.

Around 300 delegates are looking at women's rights in the Islamic world.

Mr Prado, of the Catalan Islamic board, believes a common misconception in the West is that women's liberation is not possible in Muslim societies.

Activists representing the Islamic feminist movement are in Barcelona to counter that view and discuss ways of achieving female equality in an Islamic context.

Collaboration

Among the delegates is the Pakistani feminist Riffat Hassan, regarded as one of the pioneers of Islamic feminist theology.

Also here are representatives from the international association, Islamic Feminism.

Islamic Feminism argues that the inferior legal and social status of women in Muslim countries is a result of misogynistic distortions of the teachings in the Koran.

Organisers say they want more collaboration with western feminists but say non-Muslim feminists need to challenge their anti-Islamic stereotypes.

[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4384512.stm]BBC NEWS[/url]

Any thoughts?

Forum

yuit — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 - 22:25

I sometime think that the west will never understand Islam position on women. Fair enough I understand islam manifest itself differently within certain culture which mean some men in certain cultures will emphasis more on their suppose superiority, but still i think that there is a fundamental difference. Because I believe the West see women being equal and being able to do the same things as men, while islam view on women is that they equal but different thing are expected. I think that the west see women role in the house as being oppressive and this is the one biggest mistake that they make IMO. But I agree with what someone once said on the forum that women issue is one of the biggest factors used to attack islam and portray it as backwards, so this does indicate that there is something going wrong in theory to practice.

100 — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 - 23:03

yuit,

Western feminism was a response to women who demanded rights in politics, at home, in education, commerce and all areas of public life. It isn't just a broad guess. Perhaps that is also the position of these Islamic feminists.

You — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 - 00:02

There are two types of feminists.

1. Women are superior to men.
2. Women are equal to men.

Islam says men and women are not equal, but equivalent. Islam is not about equality, bt fairness.

Thus feminism does not have a place in Islam.

Those women who fight for the rights that god gave, but man took away are not feminists, they are practising muslims!

100 — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 - 00:50

lol, pretty rose-tinted of you Admin, if you mean the status quo. I hope their husbands can be persuaded to accept that.

laila — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 - 00:52

[quote="Admin"]Those women who fight for the rights that god gave, but man took away are not feminists, they are practising muslims![/quote]

thats exactly what i wanted to say and that is exactly how it is

You — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 - 00:59

[quote="100"]lol, pretty rose-tinted of you Admin, if you mean the status quo. I hope their husbands can be persuaded to accept that.[/quote]

What is rose tinted?

there are problems. however correcting those problems is not 'feminism'. Its restoring the rights thta god gave in the first place...

100 — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 - 01:23

Admin, I appreciate that, and I especially appreciate your belief in that, and I hope it gains widespread acceptance.

I think it is a good idea for women to rally around the terms 'feminism' and 'equality', even if they point out that Islam upholds those rights, and that we as men in any culture should not feel threatened by 'feminism', and of course should insist on our equality too when necessary. What is interesting is that in Britain now we are most of us experiencing what equality really is, and it is not always comfortable, as we ourselves become reduced to objects and inconveniences some of the time, but we should not kid ourselves that the phenomenon is universal rendering the feminist campaign obsolete, just yet.

MuslimSisLilSis — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 - 20:48

[quote="seema*"][quote="Admin"]Those women who fight for the rights that god gave, but man took away are not feminists, they are practising muslims![/quote]

thats exactly what i wanted to say and that is exactly how it is[/quote]

good point

but SOME people percieve them as "feminsist"

so the definition to this term is relative

depends on the narrow mindness of the individual

100 — Sun, 13 Nov 2005 - 06:47

MuslimSisLilSis,

I found that unclear. A broadminded individual would not see the need for a 'feminist' agenda?

MuslimSisLilSis — Sun, 13 Nov 2005 - 15:22

[quote="100"]MuslimSisLilSis,

I found that unclear. A broadminded individual would not see the need for a 'feminist' agenda?[/quote]

of course

but a narrow minded person would percieve a woman fighting for her right as being a feminist

even if her right is God given

100 — Sun, 13 Nov 2005 - 15:27

But taken away by man, MuslimSisLilSis, even, sometimes in 'respectable' Muslim societies. I guess we disagree, and that is not to say that the Qu'ran is anti-feminist, I'm aware many women say it is very egalitarian. But some Muslims are like Med and [url=http://www.therevival.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=858]Berachia[/url], putting it mildly, and they don't accept your claim. Hence feminism. Seriously, tell a battered wife there is no benefit in women demanding their rights. And if you accept my point, I can at least agree that it doesn't matter what you would call it, but it is called feminism. It goes without saying that if there were no interpretative basis for it in the Qu'ran there would be no such conference.