This section reviews the state of research on women’s issues in different streams of Islam as well as secular currents in the Near East, and is followed by some aspects of the historical development of the main currents of Islamic thought.
5 1 Women’s Position in Diverse Currents of Islamic and Secular Thought in the Near East: the State of Research
Gender equality is internationally recognized as a requirement for human lives and is crucial within the global conception of justice. In relation to religion, gen
der equality is often considered a cultural factor that defines value systems, which has made the subject of ‘Islam and women’s rights’ a popular issue in several fields of human sciences. Studies relating to gender equality in the hu
man sciences are generally based on three interpretations of Islam: the funda
mentalist, the reformist, and the secular. Several studies also address the histo
ry of gender equality in Islamic countries (Keddie and Beth Baron 1991;
Mernissi 1988) and the conditions and status of women in Islam in the Middle East and North Africa (Beck and Keddie 1978; Keddie 2007; Ahmed 1992; Tuck
er 1993; Hijab 1998). This section introduces a small contribution of the pleth
ora of literature on women’s issues in Islamic societies and the interpretations of fundamentalists, reformists, and secularists.
Studies on women’s issues in fundamentalist interpretations
Despite significant regional and political differences among Islamic Fundamen
talist movements, they have certain similar features. Fundamentalist movements are inherently opposed to modern and secular values (Shupe 2011); however, they do not opt for antimodern living conditions. These movements are also an
tidemocracy and antifeminist (Moghissi 1999: 76). Another characteristic that defines fundamentalism is violence (Juergensmeyer 2003), although not all fun
damentalist groups are violent. They follow certain policies concerning matters
of family and gender relations by trying to turn women to more traditional roles.
These methods include encouraging procreation, veiling of women, segregation of the sexes, control over female sexuality, and submission to patriarchal values (Emerson and Hartman 2006; Afary 1997; Haeri 1993). Shehadeh (2007) pres
ents an analysis of the discourse on fundamentalism in the opinions of some prominent representatives, such as Morteza Mutahhari and Ruhollah Khomei
ni, their views in relation to women and women’s role in society, and their aim to construct an Islamic society.
One remarkable point that must be considered regarding fundamentalism is that Muslim women have also participated in its construction, and it is not sole
ly imposed on women by men (Ingersoll 1995, quoted in Afary 1997; Shehadeh 2007). Women are attracted to fundamentalism for several reasons, including the emphasis on family and the priority of raising children. Afary (1997) and Rinal
do (2010) indicate and discuss many studies concerning this matter, some of which will be discussed here. Women might have more interest in traditional culture and show a willingness to accept apparently secure patriarchal values to gain the hus
band’s loyalty and economic support, including that for the children (Hardacre 1993; Kandiyoti 1988; Ong 1990; Ruthven 2007). This willingness can be relat
ed to the insecurities in the structure of society, such as unemployment, the low status of jobs for women, lack of childcare and the responsibility for household services for children and the elderly. However, women’s position in a fundamen
talist community is in a transitional phase, in that they are no longer largely con
fined to the home, but are gradually undertaking active roles and participating in public and business lives (Ruthven 2007). In this transition, women applying fun
damentalist norms achieve some personal autonomy and subjectivity in building the Islamic society, which is considered by some scholars as another reason that women support the fundamentalist movement. An example on the subject of the subjectivity of women is their personal choice for veiling which is discussed by SmithHefner (2007) and Mahmood (2005). According to SmithHefner, the veil is also a symbol of modern Muslim women in Java; it enables women to live away from home and to have professional careers. Accordingly some argue that veil
ing of women, although it restricts women’s individual freedom, can also provide women with more opportunities to access education and employment, to work as a member of political organizations, and to participate in public spaces.
Furthermore, veiled women in Muslim countries face less sexual harassment.
The veil can protect women from sexual harassment in various forms, such as touching, fondling, stalking, and derogatory comments on the streets, in buses, and in work places, for which women not only have no recourse to law, but are also regarded as having seduced the men and are condemned for it (Abu Odeh 1993). In Iran, according to Rostamian (1390/2011), the veil is not intended to restrict women’s freedom, but is necessary in order to protect morality, mental health and social security in society. The veil was also considered as a symbol
ic rebellion against the state’s secularism and Westernization, taken up by edu
cated women who rejected modernity that was defined by Western and secular
norms. Therefore, veiling provided a new generation of educated women with agency and an active role in creating an Islamic society (Brenner 1996; Göle 1996). Göle recognizes veiling in Turkey as a symbol of the politicization of Is
lam and explains how “Islamic veiling crosscuts power relations between Is
lam and the West, modernity and tradition, secularism and religion, as well as between men and women” (Göle 1996: 21). Here, veiling as a product of a new interpretation of religion is not because of tradition, but as a result of moderni
ty. Therefore, the veiling movement demonstrates a politicization of women and women’s contribution in Islamic movements against Western values and implies women’s individual autonomy. Paradoxically, on the other hand, the Islamic movement is against the visibility of women and their movement from the do
mestic private sphere to the public sphere (ibid.).
Ahmed (1992) argues that the veil was a response to colonial discourse and was taken by women as a symbol of anticolonialism and antiWestern identity.
During the 1979 Revolution in Iran, many women donned the veil to depict their resistance to the secular, Westoriented regime of Pahlavi (Najmabadi 2001; Af
shar 1999; Moghadam 2003). The veil is considered as the most visible symbol of Islamization, which demonstrates itself in gender relations and the family (Mouser 2007; Stivens 2006). Mernissi (1987) criticized veiling as a reassertion of patriarchy and considers that traditions such as veiling, segregation of the sex
es, and pushing women to the domestic sphere, derive from a desire to control the potential threat for the social order posed by women’s sexuality. Further
more, Mojab (2005) defined multiple meanings of the veil and challenged the assumption that women in Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Algeria using the veil to re
sist the secular state does not lead to accepting patriarchy.
Studies on women’s issues in reformist interpretations
Although fundamentalism imposed patriarchal authority upon women, women have gradually attained individual autonomy (see above) and agency to rethink religious traditions, to reject gender relations imposed by fundamentalism, and to challenge the patriarchal tradition in Islam. A new consciousness and gender discourse emerged labeled ‘Islamic feminism.’ Islamic feminists reclaim an eth
ical vision of the Quran that liberates women and insistently enjoins equality and justice (Anwar 2009: 177). This new strategy aimed to reread the Quran outside of the traditional, patriarchal interpretation for the advancement and em
powerment of Muslim women. Badran (2001) identifies Islamic feminism as a new discourse within feminism. In her point of view, religion is not monolithic and static and there is possibility for change within an Islamic framework. Mogh
adam (2002) further argues that Islamic feminism could be regarded as part of a broader religious reformation within the Islamic world.
Islamic feminism articulates a Quranbased idea of the equality of all human beings, irrespective of sex, race, or ethnicity. In this view, the Quran does not
mention specific gender roles, but it instead emphasizes the notion of mutuali
ty of the conjugal relationship, in the way that spouses are regarded as each oth
er’s protectors or ‘mutual helpers.’ This idea further holds that specific gender roles and the hierarchical order for women and men in the family are social and cultural constructions in the name of Islam (Badran 2009).
Islamic feminism is not restricted to a definite region, but it is particularly ev
ident where fundamentalism was strongest (Badran 2005:7). By the end of the 1990s in Iran, the debate on Islamic feminism was especially prevalent among scholars who recognized the possibilities within Islamic discourse and the Is
lamic Republic of Iran to develop and improve women’s position (Najmabadi 1997, 1998; Tohidi 1998; MirHosseini 1996a, 1996b, 1998, 1999). Islamic fem
inism presents a vision of an ‘ideal Islamic society’ and women’s role within that society, which enabled them to criticize the past, present, and ‘traditional Islam’ (Paidar 1996).
Nayereh Tohidi refers to the ability of Muslim women in Iran and elsewhere to renegotiate gender roles and codes, and to find “a path of compromise and cre
ative synthesis” (Tohidi 1997: 106). In other words, women are ‘bargaining with patriarchy’ (Kandiyoti 1988, cited in Moghadam 2002), but also undermining patriarchal principles (Tohidi 1997; Kandiyoti 1988, cited in Moghadam 2002).
According to Najmabadi, Islamic feminism also creates a dialogue between religious and secular feminism; hence it provides a common ground and plat
form for cooperation with secular feminists in order to improve women’s legal status and social positions (Najmabadi 1997, 1998).
MirHosseini argues that new discourses on gender relations and debate on Islamic family laws have raised a new gender consciousness (MirHosseini 1996). She also emphasizes the necessity of developing religion, law, and gen
der within the Muslim context and how gender equality is a ‘newly created is
sue.’ One of the most controversial concepts is qiwama which refers to male guardianship over women and caused obstacles in realizing gender equality be
fore the law. The idea is derived from verse 4:34 of the Quran40, and is therefore considered the basis for all laws concerning family relations. Although women may achieve some improvements in political/social relations, the area of fami
ly law rarely changes. Kabaskal Arat (2003) also refers to barriers in Islamic law in the implementation of gender equality. She says that even in Islamic societ
ies that are to some degree secular, gender equality cannot be fully realized be
cause family law has never been secularized and is still largely based on Islam
ic law.
40 “Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband’s] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand” (Quran 4:34).
As a result, verse 4:34 of the Quran as a resource for family law has been the subject of a range of studies that attempt to reinterpret this verse. Some of these studies are addressed by MirHosseini (2013) (such as AlHibri 2003; Wadud 1999; Guardi 2004; Dunn and Kellison 2010; Marin 2003; Mubarak 2004; Mah
moud 2006; Elsaidi 2011). Also, a recent piece of feminist research – Rethink-ing Authority in Muslim Legal Tradition, edited by MirHosseini et al. (2015) – with contributions from scholars from different disciplines, challenges male authority over women from within Islamic legal tradition.
The efforts to present egalitarian reinterpretations of the verse in the Quran and to generally develop women’s position in society have been undertaken not only by Islamic feminists, but also by reformist Islamic scholars since the emer
gence of the reformist stream of thought. Reformist Islamic scholars have pre
sented egalitarian representations of verse 4:34 of the Quran and have general
ly helped develop women’s position in society. One of the earliest books on the status of women and their place in human existence was The Liberation of Wom-en by Qasim Amin (1863 – 1908) in 1899. In this book, Amin criticized the way men treated women in Muslim countries, and he emphasized the necessity of re
forms on women’s issues, such as education, polygamy, and the veil. He regard
ed the liberation of women as a requirement for the liberation of Egyptian soci
ety from its inferior position and used arguments based on Islam to call for an improvement in the status of women. Amin further developed his ideas about women’s emancipation in his second book The New Woman in 1900, which caused controversy.
An historical review of various reinterpretations of the pivotal verse (4:34) in classical and contemporary discourses from fundamentalists to modernists are illustrated by Stowasser (1998). Stowasser argues that although some modern
ists differentiated themselves from mainstream conservatism and aimed to re
form traditional social structures, when it comes to the interpretation of this verse, they remained faithful to the fundamentalist interpretation. For instance, Muhammad Abduh (d.1905), a major reformist of Islamic theology who is con
sidered one of the founders of Islamic Modernism, explained: “that in the God
willed natural order of the family, the man is charged with leadership (qawama) to protect domestic life and wellbeing. He is to the wife as the head is to the body. Men merit this ‘superiority’ because of qualities they alone possess, some innate and some acquired” (cited in Stowasser 1998: 35). However, this new epistemology has brought forth a form of theoretical treaty rather than Quranic commentary, such as Fazlur Rahman’s effort to “establish a theoretical model that distinguishes between the Quran ‘literal’, situationspecific laws on the one hand and the eternally valid ‘reasons’, rationes legis, behind those laws on the other hand” (ibid.: 38).
Understanding women’s issues in various regions of the Islamic world re
quires an historical context of the regions. For instance, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where the hijab is compulsory but women are fighting to shed the veil, the exegesis of religious sources is emphasized, according to which the veil is
not obligatory, while in Turkey, some women are contesting the ban on head
scarves and the issue of the veil is not their priority.
On the matter of reformism, there are a significant amount of studies that de
scribe the practical efforts taken by women in various Islamic regions in order to achieve legal reforms in the context of women’s lived social reality. These studies address, among others, countries and movements such as Morocco and Egypt and the global Musawah movement (MirHossein et al. 2013); Turkey and Palestine (Afary 1997); the efforts of Afghan women’s activists for women’s rights in Afghanistan (Goodwin 2002); the efforts of the organization of Wom
en for Afghan Women towards peace and economic stability (Mehta and Maaf
farmoor 2002); Iran (Ahmadi Khorasani 2009); and legal reform on women’s work in Jordan (ElAzhary Sonbol 2004).
Studies on women’s issues in the secular stream
Secularist feminism entered into the Muslim world even before Islamic femi
nism. As Badran explains, “the foundational moment of women’s ‘secular fem
inism’ may be traced to the late nineteenth century while the emergence of ‘Is
lamic feminism’ became evident in the late twentieth century” (Badran 2005:
6). Nonetheless, during the 1970s and 1980s, secular feminism stood in oppo
sition to Islamists and their patriarchal definition of ‘religion’. According to Badran:
Women’s secular feminist movements in the Middle East for many decades in the twen
tieth century struggled with considerable success within the framework of the nationstate, to make its institutions fully open and responsive to the needs of women and men alike as citizens (Badran 2005: 11).
Secularlyoriented tendencies, as AlAli (2000: 130) describes, accept the sep
aration between religion and politics, although they do not denote an antireli
gious or antiIslamic position. However, secularist women do not recognize Is
lamic law as the main source of legislation; rather, “they also refer to civil law and resolution of human rights conventions, as adopted by the United Nations, as frames of reference for their struggle” (ibid.). Therefore, according to this ap
proach, legislation and government are separated from faith and religious law.
One can be Muslim and still be committed to equality and universal human rights as the basis for legislation, even when these may conflict with certain Islamic traditions and values. Hence, secular feminism is neither about hostility to reli
gion nor about negating religion in people’s lives. Rather, it is about separating state and religion and about the necessity of respecting human rights and gen
der equality, and not violating these rights in favor of religious traditions and values. However, secular feminism in the Islamic world is often considered to be a Western imposition that belittles and marginalizes not just religions, but lo
cal cultural and moral values, particularly regarding the family (see: Ahmed
Ghosh 2008: 106–107).
In these struggles, secular feminism reproaches Islamic feminists for delegit
imizing secular trends and strengthening the legitimacy of the Islamic system in Iran, as well as weakening the struggle of women inside Iran. Islamic feminism, in this view, “fails to offer a liberating alternative to the dominant Islamic dis
course” (cited in Moghadam 2002:1150) and follows ‘defeatist strategies’ to propose demands acceptable within an Islamic framework. Therefore these strat
egies merely redefine gender identities such as manhood and motherhood. Real change and improvement in women’s position comes outside of a religious framework (Moghissi, Shahidian and Mojab, cited in Moghadam 2002).
Nonetheless, some secular feminists believe that feminists should challenge the politics of the region. “If the current appropriate framework of social em
powerment is Islam, feminists have to work with it to empower women. It is then for women in these situations to exercise their agency to bring the chang
es to their lives that matches their aspirations” (AhmedGhosh 2008: 106–107).
In this cooperation of Islamic and secular feminism, Islamic feminism provid
ed a new edge in Islamic countries through offering new tools, while secular feminists provide Islamic feminism with a progressive religious discourse (see:
Badran 2005: 13–14). AlNa’im (1995) refers to the dichotomy between reli
gious and secular views about the rights of women in Islamic societies and sug
gests the reconciliation and integration of the two types of discourse, and the minimization of the differences between them. On the one hand, discourse aris
es from the authority of scripture, and on the other, it derives from human rea
son and experience. Both discourses interact and overlap, which overshadows the sharp dichotomy between them. In other words, “it is conceptually mislead
ing to speak of ‘purely’ religious or secular discourse about the rights of wom
en” (AlNa’im 1995: 51). However, it does not mean to discard the distinction, but to advocate for the human rights of women requires that one “fully engage in religious as well as secular discourse relevant to the matter! (AnNa’im 1995:
51–54). Only a partnering of these discourses “might avoid the schism and stale
mate that may exist in the discourse on women’s rights in the Islamic regions and help bring about at least some changes in women’s rights and positions” in the Islamic countries (AhmedGhosh 2008: 113).
Conclusion
This section introduced a set of studies on women’s position in Islamic coun
tries, which can be considered on a spectrum beginning with fundamentalism, moving gradually to reformist perspectives and ultimately to a combination of
tries, which can be considered on a spectrum beginning with fundamentalism, moving gradually to reformist perspectives and ultimately to a combination of