A Postmodern Christian-Muslim Feminist

Abstract

A British feminist visited me in Cairo in 1982. She was writing a book about Muslim feminists in the Middle East. “I am not a Muslim feminist and I live in Egypt, in North Africa, not the Middle East,” I told her. “Where do you live?” “I live in London. England is my country.” “So you are from the Middle West.” She laughed, it was funny to abolish the name England and put Middle West instead, but to abolish Egypt and put Middle East was not a joke, it was a serious reality. Then she asked me, “If you are not a Muslim feminist, how do you describe yourself?” I said, “Please describe yourself to me first.” “I am a Christian feminist.” “Do you believe in the Bible?” “I have a different interpretation of the Bible,” she said. “Eve was not a sinner and Christ was a black lesbian woman.” “So why do you call yourself Christian?” “It’s only a matter of culture, I mean my cultural identity, my authentic identity.” More than twenty years passed and I was walking in the Gezira Club in Cairo when a veiled woman stopped me. I didn’t recognize her. It was the Christian feminist, having converted to Islam after marrying an Egyptian doctor. “I chose Islam and the veil of my own free will,” she said. “I am a Muslim feminist and the veil is part of my Islamic identity. Did you read my new book about Muslim feminists in which I...?”