Ryerson University Canada’s Department of Sociology Professor Dr. Amina Jamal claimed that Muslim women have had many opportunities to work for their rights due to the spaces created by the ranks of Islamic women’s organizations. Dr. Jamal said this while speaking at a seminar titled ‘Islam: South Asian Muslim Women’s Struggles and Transnational Feminist Practices.’ This event was organised by the female campus of the International Islamic University, Islamabad in collaboration with the Iqbal International Institute for Research and Dialogue.
Speaking on the occasion Dr. Jamal said that the Muslim feminist groups and individual activists in societies as far apart as Pakistan and Canada were being faced with the increasing activism of women who identify themselves as Muslims and are opposed to liberal feminism. She added that the feminist movement in Pakistan was split between feminists who seek to invoke Islamic scriptures in support of women’s rights and those who advocate the secular position of insisting on the separation of religion and politics.
Dr. Jamal also shared some aspects of her research on the status of women’s rights according to the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). She said that there were strong indicators that JI women have a balanced approach towards women’s rights and development as they engage in politics and social work- a move similar to the works of secular feminists- and ‘prioritise the nation state’, another aspect which substantiates the argument that they follow the modern development approach.
Highlighting another trend among Islamist women, Dr. Jamal said that they have developed a dislike towards modern terminologies that were related to women, such as ‘women rights’ and ‘feminism’ etc. “One logical reason for their dislike is that these terminologies have been coined by world powers which continue their legacy of colonialism and imperialism” she added.
feminism has its roots in Islam. the west is not the only torch bearer of women rights
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