FAITH AND FEMINISM IN PAKISTAN: Religious Agency or Secular Autonomy? by Afiya Shehrbano Zia A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Women and Gender Studies Institute University of Toronto © Copyright by Afiya Shehrbano Zia 2017 Faith and Feminism: Religious Agency or Secular Autonomy? Afiya Shehrbano Zia Doctor of Philosophy Women and Gender Studies Institute University of Toronto 2017 Abstract Numerous post 9/11 ethnographic studies on Islamist/Muslim women have focused almost exclusively on their piety, spiritual drive, agency and subjectivities. Against this trend, the academic and political interest of Faith and Feminism is to recall attention to the political ideologies and routine struggles of women in Muslim majority contexts. This thesis tracks some epistemological tensions that define the growing antagonism between faith-based and secular feminist politics in Pakistan. It argues that there are serious limitations to the religious agency sometimes celebrated by scholars in Western academia as a manifestation of Muslim women’s imaginaries or subjectivities (Abu-Lughod 2013, Jamal 2013, Iqtidar 2011, Mahmood 2005). ii The influence of postsecularist scholarship that discredits secular feminisms and liberal aspirations is studied with reference to Pakistan. The thesis finds that such criticism relies on a forfeiture of equality and freedoms for Muslim women and minorities only and offers a rationalisation of patriarchy and conservatism. At the same time, this study also recognises the limitations and ineffectual strategies of liberal resistance to Islamic conservatism; the ideological tensions amongst feminists; and the futile dependence on popular culture as a mode of resistance. The post 9/11 developmental model of “donor-driven Islam” (as a strategy of embedding progressive Islam under the guise of servicing gender empowerment while promoting a communalised ‘Muslim human rights’) is found to hinge on postsecularist arguments. In contrast to the above trends, this thesis documents and analyses some examples of the nation- wide working women’s movements in Pakistan that were active through the decade of the “War on Terror” (2001 – 2013). These struggles and campaigns have been secular, or free of theological underpinnings, motivations, slogans or props, and have taken no recourse from faith or religious debates, yet they remain the direct targets of Islamist conservatism and militancy. The thesis argues for political investment in these movements of secular resistance for meaningful feminist progress. iii Acknowledgements The kindest support to my person and feminist politics has been a mother who has nurtured and encouraged me and defended my pursuits through life and now does the same for my sons. Without her, I could not have made any professional progress or contributed to any political or scholarly cause. Thank you, Purveen, for literally everything. Both my grandmothers were amazing pioneers in their respective ways and I’m privileged to have spent time with my nani as she aged with wisdom and in the most graceful way a person could. My non-biological mothers and sisters have been invaluable allies and provide a loving haven since childhood: Anna (Afroze), Jaana (Farzana), Sarah Burki, Faryal Khan, Ambreen Marghoob, Batul Rizvi, Naila apa, Alia Fawad, Emma Ali and Sadia Mahmud are strong, independent, beautiful women who inspire me all the time. There is the extended family of matriarchs of the women’s movement in Pakistan who are (thankfully) too many to list but Anis Haroon, Nasreen Azhar, Neelam Hussain, Rubina Saigol, Hina Jillani, Farieha Aziz and all the other dynamic women who are members of the Women’s Action Forum, have taught me the most important lessons of the unending feminist struggle for a more just and equal Pakistan. They encouraged me to debate and disagree as an equal. Women such as Saba Khattak and Farzana Bari, Irum and Farah Zia inspire me for their accomplishments and integrity and have been unwavering in their support and loyalty. Sisters, such as Ayesha Tammy Haq, who make ripples in a male-dominated society and Nazish Brohi, who make me laugh at myself, are my sounding boards and occupational oases. There is no way to quantify the value of Bushra’s and Sumera’s labour in my home ever since my children were born. I owe them a lifetime of gratitude for their dual and triple labour and care-giving services and hope that my and their own children will recognise, value and respect their autonomy as working women. Young women and men from minority groups who struggle for their lives and rights in big cities, forgotten ghettos, small towns and obscure tribal areas draw my admiration and shame simultaneously, on a daily basis. iv As a feminist, I have been lucky for the support from a selection of brilliant men. S. Akbar Zaidi has been the invaluable mentor, friend and critic that everyone should be lucky to have. Without his guidance and push, this doctoral pursuit would not have been possible. He may just be the last of cutting-edge socialists in Pakistan who has not compromised his political views or fallen victim to a politics of appeasement and convenience. Human rights defender, I.A. Rehman is another man who has been fighting for rights for longer than anyone I know, and yet is still ahead of his time and stands tall amongst a new generation of activists who feel they have seen and heard it all. He will always remain my go-to man for human rights advice and learning. Salman Raja is one of Pakistan’s most brilliant minds and his instinctive insights have often landed us on the wrong side of acceptable opinion, but at least we have occupied that space together. Stephen Hall is the most radical and committed thinker that I know in the Western world and I value his quirkiness and his complete disregard for fame, recognition or worldly achievement. If Pakistan had more lawyers, politicians and statesmen like Aitzaz Ahsan, it would be able to convert its most revolutionary and progressive potential. I am grateful for Aitzaz’s generous words of encouragement, always. I admire the skilled outliers within government such as Afzal Latif who works tirelessly with a kind of defeatist determination that claims change will not happen within state structures but continues to try and make it happen, anyway. Activists and comrades such as Farooq Sulehria, Asad Jamal, Omar Waraich, Ali Arqam, Owais Tohid, Shahid Fiaz, Fahd Ali and, some of the younger men and women from the Awami Workers Party hold promise for the promotion of feminist causes in Pakistan. I hope they are able to do so, for the sake of my and their sons and daughters. My brilliant and beautiful sons, Aadil and Emad are my closest friends, sharpest challengers and most compassionate and fun companions. Without their spark and independence and the help of their father, I could not have studied or politicked through motherhood. I am especially thankful to my own father who has always supported and invested in my academic pursuits in equal measure to what he did for my brother. A special thanks to my uncle, Farooq Feroze Khan, baby brother, Saad Zia, and the brotherhood provided by Fahad and Faisal Farooq, Zain Ghazali and Ahmed Rana, for their love but mostly their ability to make me laugh till it hurts. Childhood friendships that continue to sustain me today include the bonds I share with Shabnum, Sadiqa, Kamila, Hyder Ahmed, Ghouse Akbar, Nadir Shah, and Nasser Aziz. v The warmth of Shahrzad Mojab is obvious from the ardent following of students she has gathered over the past decades. For her encouragement, even insistence, to undertake this degree and her patient guidance and support, I am deeply grateful. She will always be more friend than colleague or supervisor. The same is true of dynamic and inspiring scholars, Deniz Kandiyoti, Haideh Moghissi and activists such as Meredith Tax. I am also appreciative of my co-supervisor, Bonnie McElhinny and committee member, Kiran Mirchandani for their sharp, pointed but relevant interventions and directions. Thanks are due to the Women and Gender Studies Institute, and especially Marian Reed, for her admirable calmness and efficiency. To Tyler, Aarzoo, Nora and Henar, a special thanks for making classes fun and smart at the same time. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 1 Secular Possibilities ............................................................................................................ 1 2 Waves of Influence .............................................................................................................. 4 3 Postsecular, Retro-Islamist Recoveries ............................................................................. 9 4 Pedagogies of Methodology .............................................................................................. 13 5 Thesis Organisation .......................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................................