Where are the women? The gap between dogmatic and feminist discourse on Muslim women

Abstract

This thesis takes a closer look at the notion that women in Islam are oppressed. To this end, the thesis considers the long-held Dogmatics and Muslim feminist views of women in Islam. Why? Since the start of modernity, Muslim women have been subjected to two competing interpretations of the religion: the Muslim feminist and the Muslim traditionalist. Both arguably represent dogmatism of a kind because both hold the same assumptions about women in relation to the Qur’an: 1) That the Qur’an is essentially patriarchal, 2) women’s roles are limited by the Qur’an, and 3) the lower status of women can be confirmed by both Qur’an and Hadith. This raises the question about the integrity of both positions concerning women. Although Muslim feminists have made the eYort to liberate women from the bondage of Muslim traditionalism, their oppositionist stance has ironically veiled the nuanced possibility of any woman’s relationship to her religion and tradition. This is further problematised by the fact that the basis of Muslim feminists’ rejection of Muslim traditionalism arises from a blind spot of Western values. Likewise, the failure of Muslim traditionalism is a disregard for the rights of women due to their heavy reliance on Hadith. Therefore, this study will show that Muslim feminists and Muslim traditionalists have conflated current social standards of living with historical cultural standards of living by presenting these as religious problems. The religious issue is thus made highly problematised for women in Islam today. In order to address this issue, it is necessary to understand the historical contexts of both positions and their assumed relationship to Islamic scripture and the fundamentals of Islamic faith and practice. The aim of this study is thus to understand the role of women in Islam free from historicised and normalised outlooks. It will do this by assessing the texts of prominent Muslim feminists such as Laila Ahmad, Fatima Mernissi, and Amina Wadud as well as Muslim traditionalists like Abdul A’la Maududi.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Supervisor	Milad Milani (Supervisor) & Helen Koukoutsis (Supervisor)