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Islamic Feminism: a Discourse of Gender Justice and Equality Linfield University DigitalCommons@Linfield Senior Theses Student Scholarship & Creative Works 5-27-2014 Islamic Feminism: A Discourse of Gender Justice and Equality Breanna Ribeiro Linfield College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/relsstud_theses Part of the Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Ribeiro, Breanna, "Islamic Feminism: A Discourse of Gender Justice and Equality" (2014). Senior Theses. 1. https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/relsstud_theses/1 This Thesis (Open Access) is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It is brought to you for free via open access, courtesy of DigitalCommons@Linfield, with permission from the rights-holder(s). 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By signing below, you acknowledge this fact and expressly consent to the use of this work according to the terms of this agreement BY SIGNING THIS FORM, I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ALL WORK CONTAINED IN THIS PAPER IS ORIGINAL WORK BY ME OR INCLUDES APPROPRIATE CITATIONS AND/OR PERMISSIONS WHEN CITING OR INCLUDING EXCERPTS OF WORK(S) BY OTHERS. IF APPLICABLE, I HAVE INCLUDED AN APPROVAL LETTER FROM THE IRB TO USE HUMAN SUBJECTS. r Signature redacted Signature Date J'~ SO,.~JLf Pnnted Name btCAI'\il~ Kj~rt> Approved by Faculty Advisor - Signature redacted - Date ~ /., ~1{ Updated April2, 2012 Ribeiro 1 Abstract This paper examines Islamic feminism using structural methodology and the phenomenological approach to examine the component of Muslim feminist’s activism that utilizes ijtihad and tafsir to reinterpret patriarchal rhetoric and highlight Islamic discourses that validate gender equality. These scholars and activists critically analyze Islamic theology by employing hermeneutics in order to produce Islamic exegeses that affirm social justice, gender equality, and liberation. Religion plays a critical role in building collective cultural identities therefore, examining sacred text’s representation and prescription of gender roles and mores generates an understanding of the gender order in the community of believers, while simultaneously exposing contextual patriarchal inaccuracies that result in gender inequities. Muslim scholar-activists engage in this work to re-appropriate their cultural self-definition by emphasizing the socio-political environments that shaped the interpretations of the Qur’an and Hadiths in order to promote justice and affirm gender equality within an Islamic paradigm. A liberatory theology legitimized by Islamic sacred texts not only confronts systemic and systematic repressive practices against women but also mandates reflexive change in Islamic societies. Muslims collective identity is couched within an Islamic discourse; therefore, Muslim scholar activist’s reinterpretation of sacred texts has the potential to enable a genuine cultural paradigm shift that can establish the necessary milieu for progressive women’s rights to not only be proposed but also implemented successfully in Islamic societies. Ribeiro 2 This paper evaluates the growing academic literature on reform-oriented Muslim scholar- activists and specifically focuses on the ways in which Islamic feminist’s reinterpret the Qur’an by employing ijtihad and tafsir to 1) contextualize verses revelation; 2) search for the best meaning as charged to by the Qur’an; 3) compare specific words or ayats with the syntactical composition elsewhere in the sacred text; 4) and to read ayat and suras in a holistic manner with the Qur’an’s broader thematic message in mind. Their reinterpretations set the foundation for Islamic feminist’s activism in broader society that seeks to eliminate social discrimination, promote social justice, and progress human equality and dignity. This examination of Muslim scholar activist’s hermeneutics illustrates that Islamic feminism is a viable avenue to empower Muslim women and foster grass-roots cultural transformation in Muslim societies towards more gender egalitarian attitudes and practices. I argue that Islamic feminist scholars’ hermeneutics unshackles Islam’s liberatory theology and egalitarian message from patriarchal inaccuracies. Self-Reflection During my study of Islamic feminism I utilized the phenomenological approach and standpoint theory to explore my “preconceived, culturally bound, explanatory paradigms and all prejudices incompatible with and foreign to the observed culture.”i This practice is crucial in order to name our biases and gain a deeper understanding of our created realities, subjective lens, and worldviews. A worldview is defined as “an interpretive framework through which or by which one makes sense out of the data of life and the world.”ii Therefore, worldviews are shaped by human-made institutions—like religion—which constitute and inform subjective realities, “objective” beliefs, and subsequent human actions.iii The phenomenological approach attempts to “bridge the gap between the paradigm-laden outside observer lens in striving for objectivity and basic signifying meanings of religious Ribeiro 3 constructions maintained within a participant insider’s worldview.”iv Standpoint theory furthers this process by demanding the researcher to reflect explicitly upon and acknowledge one’s “gender, ethnicity, class, religious beliefs, and so on, and their relationship to the object of study.”v These two methods help researchers identify their paradigm from which they explore other concepts and perspectives. In the process of self-critical examination it’s vital to situate myself as a white woman in a liberal arts college in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. I come from a rural middle- class family and I identify
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