lystn

In the past few decades, some female Muslim academics and activists have drawn on the Qur'an to argue for what they perceive should be a part of women's rights and the equality of women. The work of various individuals and organisations is broadly referred to as Islamic feminism.

For a Muslim woman facing domestic violence, spiritual abuse, and financial exploitation within the Muslim community, it is easy to see why she would turn to Islamic feminist thinkers for support. The prejudice of white secular feminists doesn't appeal to her identity. In addition, she wants to gain knowledge and connect with Allah (ﷻ), but she doesn't feel welcome in some traditional Muslim spaces. Islamic feminist thinkers purport to root their opinions in the Islamic tradition, leading some to believe their views are automatically legitimate. Additionally, the egalitarian atmosphere fostered by Islamic feminist scholarship is seen as a safe space for Muslim women.

“Islamic” feminist thinkers are filling a void. Is it not the case that only a handful of people champion Muslim women's issues? So when secular, articulate Muslim academics address the misogyny amongst Muslims, some are grateful and gravitate towards them. Islamic feminist thinkers gain traction often because modern Muslim societies in the East and West are not comprehensively delivering women the Islamic rights Allah (ﷻ) decreed them to have.

But how can a layperson evaluate what Islamic feminist academics are saying is theologically sound? A Muslim who has not studied quranic hermeneutics or Islamic history will not have the skills or knowledge to assess their views, so women often trust them by virtue of their assertion as being pro-women.

Rather than blindly accepting their assertions, we should evaluate them objectively. Just because they are women doesn't mean we unquestioningly embrace their arguments, just as we should with men. We should pause and question our motives foraloowing Islamic feminist scholars to influence our thinking. Do we agree with them because they articulate what we want to hear? Or is it a classic case of shopping around for an opinion that agrees with our sensibilities? Moreover, it is essential to assess whether these views align with the majority of scholarly mainstream Islamic opinions. InshaAllah, in this piece, my aim is to do precisely that.

With my guest, Heraa Hashmi, I will be focussing on the following contemporary academics Dr. Amina Wadud, Dr. Asma Barlas, Dr. Kecia Ali, and Dr. Aysha Hidayatullah. They do not always agree, and some are more intellectually rigorous than others, but they share the objective of creating an egalitarian Islam, attempting to pursue equality and justice for women by “reforming” Islamic law.

Heraa Hashmi is best known for her project, Muslims Condemn. She is a law student based in the US with a background in Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology and Linguistics. Her interests include the Islamic sciences, cognitive linguistics, and bioethics. She writes for www.traversingtradition.com     https://traversingtradition.com/