Islam & Feminism: Pseudo-mutual exclusivity
First and foremost, I’d like to mention that I am a Muslim, a practicing Muslim, not a perfect one but regardless a Muslim. I love Islam, and I am grateful to be part of a religion which is guided by very beautiful principles to live by.
For those that do not know me, I am female too; a lady, girl, or woman , whichever you choose to call me. But I think I am prepared for the term “woman”, if you would give that to me.
Shockingly, I am also a feminist, slowly becoming a “radical” one. Even though I did not choose that name and that I think it sounds very elite for someone like me, I believe it’s the best thing that has happened to me over the last few months.
Now going by that introduction, you can simply call me the Muslim Feminist Woman.
I was born a Muslim into a very religious family and was introduced to Islam through Daara ( a local Quranic school) in Gloucester street, Banjul. The lessons were mainly on Arabic studies, learning how to read and memorize the Quran and prophetic stories. Nothing on the lessons were outside the teachings in the book — not that memorizing the holy book of my religion isn’t important, matter of fact it is one of the most important things to learn as a Muslim — , morals of the stories or more importantly, why I needed to be a Muslim in the first place. So I grew up with very little or no amount of knowledge about the not-so deep principles of Islam and my limits as a follower of Islam.
I did not choose to be a feminist, it just happened. But while I told women to “prosper but do not go against Islam” , I chose to do so while coating my advice with the Islamic principles of “a woman being less”. It made absolute sense to me that any religion will not openly give its followers the power to go against it. What didn’t make sense to me, at some point was that it would permit men to be extraordinary beings while it teaches equality.
I didn’t have the guts to question, I boastfully speculated that my imaan was so high that it did not allow me to question anything , it later loomed on me that rather my imaan was actually very low that I didn’t consider seeking more knowledge on matters that were of great interest to me. Fairly, I lived on the misogynistic misused-Islamic principles that made me submissive to Muslim men and men in general . And I shall not be blamed for this.
Feminism means giving equal opportunities and treating both men and women equally, and this does not mean that women should lift the same amount of chairs a man would lift. Now of course a woman can lift up as much chairs as her strength can bear, but that is not what feminism is about. It is about obtaining equal social, economic, political rights and to me, a Muslim feminist, spiritual potentiality for women. Feminism also means women liberating themselves from oppression and injustices of society, which more often than not are caused by men. Oppression, just like many other biased treatment towards a fellow human, is forbidden to both men and women in Islam e.g a woman acquiring her husbands name to avoid the sensation of ownership of the woman or the claim of a lineage different from yours.
For these reasons, I think it is very bizarre for you as a man, or excusably, a woman, to defend patriarchy by saying “a Muslim cannot be a feminist”. It begs the questions “Do you truly understand Islam or feminism? Or are you just dazzled by your privileges?” Which one really is the problem, because if it’s the former then you have time to learn. Maybe not too much time, as you can see, I and many others are tired of your fatwas (rulings). We do not need you, confused and clueless “muftis” , telling us that we cannot be whole or fulfilled — have a career, be a president or have a voice etc — just because we are Muslims.
There are so many rights that Islam has given us as women that we are not benefiting from. Feasibly, you can do your own research, however, a lot of you refuse to be educated. And I hate to assume that the word “feminism” can only form a sentence on a man’s keyboard if the sentence will come out as “as a Muslim woman, you cannot be a feminist” , but then again I do not expect you to just give up after over thousand years of benefiting from a system that itself, if the truth is to be told, is what is mutually exclusive to Islam.
What I expect from you is to try at least, because if you are so “concerned” about me — a Muslim woman — defying Islam by being a feminist, then likewise you can work on starting all over again to practice your religion right. By doing so you stop oppressing your sisters, girlfriends and wives and allow them to pursue their dreams. You also choose to be a good Muslim by fighting against the same issues that feminism is against. Speak on rape,child/forced marriages, sexual assault and harassment. Let your sisters be themselves and if they do need any help, they will reach out if they choose to. Let your fellow Muslim brothers know that their wives are not their baby sisters or children, they should treat them right, as equals and their partners.
These are more important concerns than suggesting that my life principles are incompatible with my religion. Surely, the last person I would take advice from on an issue such as feminism is a man.
And in case you didn’t know, Islam allows me to adapt to my society at that age and time, so if the future is female, then as the case may be, it is your ancient conservative patriarchal system that is mutually exclusive to Islam. After all, none of the prophets ever encouraged oppression and violence against women.
