International: UNESCO seminar on 'Islamic feminism'

Islamic feminism is a discourse of educated urban women (and a few men) who re-read the Qur’an and early Islamic history to recuperate their religion from patriarchal and violent interpretations, to make the case for women’s participation and rights in a religious idiom, and to give theological legitimacy to the movement for women’s rights in the Muslim world. Islamic feminists claim the right to ijtihad along with the right to take part in prayers and even to lead prayers.
Along with Islamic feminists, many Muslim scholars are engaged in a kind of religious reformation, some of which is Quran-centered and some of which addresses issues such as Islam and democracy, Islam and human rights, and Islam, science, and philosophy. Thus Islamic feminism has arisen on the cusp of this new alternative formulation and religious reformation.
Islamic feminism has been a topic of scholarly research since the mid-1990s: Islamic feminism was first described as a reform movement that also opens up a dialogue between religious and secular feminists. It was argued that gender discrimination had a social rather than a natural (or divine) basis, and this was interpreted as opening the door to new possibilities for gender equality. It raised the issue of the right to ijtehad (independent reasoning, religious interpretation), and the right of women to reinterpret Islamic law. By this time, one could see new discourses on gender among Islamic theologians, the challenging of Islamic family laws by ordinary women, but also the emergence of reform-minded Islamic feminists.
The very emergence of Islamic feminism seems to be a response or a reaction on the part of women who have been either disappointed with the promises of Islamic movements or who rejected the fundamentalist project at its inception and sought to recuperate their religion from what they regarded as a flawed or dangerous political movement. Many Muslims are now searching for alternative ways to live their lives and organize their societies without compromising either their religious identity or their human rights.
The First International Congress on Islamic Feminism was organized in Barcelona, 27-29 October 2005, by the Junta Islamica Catalan with the support of the UNESCO Catalan Center in Barcelona. V. M. Moghadam was invited in her capacity as a UNESCO staff member and as a sociologist of women’s movements whose work has addressed the discourse and emerging movement known as Islamic feminism.
This congress brought together many women and men, scholars and activists from the Muslim countries and communities. For instance, Amina Wadud, a professor of Islamic studies in the United States, led a mixed prayer service in New York in March 2005, for which she was criticized by conservatives and applauded by reformists. Her presentation in Barcelona showed the depth of her faith along with her strong belief in women’s equality. Ahmed Naseef, an Egyptian-American and founder of Muslim Wake-Up - the group that had invited Prof. Wadud to lead the prayer - similarly spoke about the need for a liberal, pluralist, egalitarian and emancipatory Islam.

Islamic feminism is also the guiding philosophy of the Malaysian women’s group Sisters in Islam and the Nigerian women’s group Baobab, both of which are affiliated with the transnational feminist network Women Living Under Muslim Laws and work for gender equality and development.

Co-ordinator: Valentine M. Moghadam Tel.: +33 (0)1 45 68 39 20
Registration:Faith Mensah Tel.: +33 (0)1 45 68 38 19