Essay on Mernissi

Textual Analysis of Leila Ahmed’s “Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate”

Aisha bint Abu Bakr was a leader, a woman, a wife, a theologian, a scholar and a political activist. She was precocious, loyal, brave and remarkably intelligent. These aspects of her humble life have allowed her to make a powerful impact on the development and expression of Islam that “no woman [has] reached”[1]. Not only did she influence the position of women in Islamic society, Islamic ethics, and the understanding and interpretation of the Qur’an, but she also modelled these qualities for the men, women and children of Islam.

Yet inequalities may not be the case for women in more westernized nations as they receive greater freedom (60). This is where the great diversity between modernist Muslim’s and conservative Muslim’s come in. Modernist Muslims argue genuine Islam is compatible with modern west society and political ideas such as democracy and the equality of women. The views of women in society are supported by revelations of the prophet Mohammed. On the other hand we have conservative Muslims where they believe in

A common misconception is that Muslim women are oppressed all around the world, but this is a fallacy created through the use of propaganda and misinformation. The so-called "oppression of women" is not a characteristic of Islam at all and to say otherwise would be out of ignorance. Reza Aslan (2015), a scholar of all religions, makes it clear that oppression of women is not related to Islam but to particular countries. A common propaganda technique is to use Saudi Arabia as the standard of Islam. This could not be further from the truth, as many Muslim countries view women equally if not beyond that. There are dozens of Muslim countries who have had more female heads of state than the US; Algeria, Turkey, Sudan, Senegal. There are a handful of Muslim countries around the world, who mention women's equal rights in their constitution, whereas the U.S is one of 32 countries who does not include an explicit gender equality guarantee (Ravitz, 2015). Using an uneducated generalization, that holds no merit, causes inconsistencies and mistaken impressions of a particular

Chraibi also took a monumental risk by making Khadija one of the central figures of mysticism in the novel. Though she has been regarded in traditional texts as one of Islam’s most important women, as well as Muhammad’s first and, arguably, most influential wife, no one gave as much importance to her in Muhammad’s journey as did Chraibi in this novel. In the Sahih Muslim, Muhammad said “God Almighty never granted me anyone better in this life than her. She accepted me when people rejected me” (Wikipedia). Khadija is known to have been extremely beautiful, Muhammad’s closest confidant, his only monogamous wife, and

There are many political, religious, and cultural factors that shape the lives of Islamic women many of them are completely different than factors in the lives of American women. Islam is one of the world’s fastest growing religions; however, Brooks argues that “Islam’s holiest texts have been misused to justify the repression of women, and how male pride and power have warped the original message of this once liberating faith.” The book also shows these factors have slowly been taking away women’s rights, rather than furthering them.

The purpose of this essay is to analyse S. Rushdie's Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies from feminist perspective. To fully understand the views that Rushdie exhibited, with respect to feminist approach , it's important to notice the contrast between men's expectations about women in Islamic culture and the unforeseen behaviour of Miss Rehana, claiming her freedom.

Religion goes hand in hand with culture, and in the Muslim countries this is very apparent. The cultural importance of men over women may have stemmed from religion, however it was further recognized when imperialist countries introduced capitalism and class divides. “Islam must combat the wrenching impact of alien forces whose influence in economic, political, and cultural permutations continues to prevail” (Stowasser 1994, 5). Now, instead of an agrarian state where both men and women had their place, difficulties have formed due to the rise in education and awareness that women can and do have a place in society beyond domestic living Though women are not equal to men anywhere around the

The rise and expansion of Islam has had a significant impact on the role and rights of women throughout history. Since its origin in the seventh century until modern times, the Muslim faith has somewhat broadened, but has mostly restricted women’s rights in numerous Islamic communities. The history of Muslim women is complex, as it involves many advances and declines in numerous locations, such as Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran, concerning several subjects, including both civil and social rights. Thus, in general, the rights of Islamic women did not improve significantly over time, instead, conditions remained the same or became worse for women as Islam evolved and spread as a world religion.

In today’s society women are given ample opportunity just as much as men. In some countries, such as middle-eastern nations that is not the case. Muslim women are often perceived to be submissive to Muslim men and unequal. Mohammed never taught for women to be treated as lower class citizens. Nonetheless, the blame is pointed towards the religion of Islam. The Islamic religion began as all monotheist religions representing a belief in one God and moral standards. In the following essay I will discuss and elaborate what Mohammed taught, how women lived in early Islamic society, and what it has become.

As FEMEN protested that the Muslim women were enslaved and insisted they "remove their signs of oppression" , Muslim activists began protesting against FEMEN. Creating a Facebook group named Muslim Women Against FEMEN and posting pictures of themselves in hijabs carrying signs that read: "Nudity does not liberate me and I do not need saving", "FEMEN stole our voice" and "FEMEN, I am a strong woman, do I look like I need imperialists to free me from oppression?" ; the Muslim group called out to reclaim their voice from what they called the "white colonial racism disguised as feminism" .

Islam is a religion based on the interpretation and application of fundamental scriptures geared towards the need of a growing, modernizing religious community. The Qur’an and the Prophet Mohammed’s Sunnah and hadith serve as the main sources for attaining religious knowledge. Scholars of Islam, Ulema, delegated a mechanism in which they can gain knowledge after they have consulted the Quran and Sunnah through ijtihad and qiyas. The flexibility with which they can use reason, ijtihad, and analogies, qiyas, to answer questions of the time created doctrines that shed light onto the growing concerns within the Muslim community. This methodology has served to provide a path in which religious scholars can apply Islam to the changing dynamics of gender roles. The modernizing world provided the framework for female scholars to enter the field of religious study and interpret Islam on their own. Drawing on their reasoning and their ability to make analogies to stories within Islam helped women develop sound arguments within Islam that codified women’s rights. Muslim feminist used the religion of Islam as the backbone of their movement by highlighting their rights and freedoms within Islamic scripture. They opened the gates of ijtihad to reevaluate scripture pertaining to their rights in a marriage free from the nuisances of male scholars. Religious tools in extracting knowledge within the folds of Islam allowed women to challenge existing marriage norms and gender roles based in

This is a significant aspect of the course because the article examines the strengths and weaknesses of femininity through a cultural Muslim perspective and the reading is a prime example of how ideologies regarding race affect those involved. In class we have discussed the significances of social constructs and how assumptions are made on the basis of physical characteristics. In this situation, identity is related to gender as Muslim women are categorized as both good/respectful and rebellious/evil individuals because they are apart of a culture where they are both oppressed and liberated simultaneously.

Although Western feminism started in the 1900s, yet, it didn’t reach the Islamic world until most recently, a couple of hundred years later than the West. Despite the fact that both of the feminism movements come from totally different back grounds, and they are affected by different history and culture, still, both of them aimed for women’s best interests. Muslim women were profoundly feeling aggrieved by the discrimination they have against them. They stereotypical reputation about them in the West, and their presentation in the Western media didn’t help either. They started and supported a new fight to regain themselves the equal status they were granted by Islam centuries ago. Muslim women didn’t like to be looked at as being backward and oppressed by men in a male-dominant world. According to the feminist historian Margot Badran, “Islamic feminism is a feminist discourse and practice articulated within an Islamic paradigm. Islamic feminism, which derives its understanding and mandate from the Qur 'an, seeks rights and justice for women, and for men, in the totality of their existence.” (Badran, 2001)

In discussing the role of women in contemporary society there are three main areas that can be addressed. The perceptions of woman within contemporary Muslim societies. The status, position and role of woman in the Qur'an and in early Islam