“Double Critique” and the Sufi Praxis of Travel in Leila Ahmed’s A Border Passage and Fatema Mernissi’s Scheherazade Goes West

Thinking Women, Feminism, and Muslim Identity through Bodies and Space in Turkey

Keeping the Gates Open

Introduction: de-colonizing Islam and Muslim feminism

Chapter 4 offers analyses of several images from Lalla Essaydi’s photographic series Converging Territories (2004), Les Femmes du Maroc (2006-2008), and Harem (2009), in which she exclusively depicts women from Morocco or the Moroccan diaspora. The chapter focuses on the feminist transnational discourse that emerges from Essaydi’s inscription of her biography—more specifically her experience growing up in a harem and living as an adult woman in Saudi Arabia and the United States—and her training in Western art. The chapter is structured around a set of key questions. Does Essaydi’s juxtaposition of Orientalist tropes and poses from canonical nineteenth-century European Orientalist paintings with the veil, calligraphy, henna tattoos, and Moroccan architecture disrupt or reinforce stereotypes in the depiction of Arab and Muslim women? Can Essaydi’s hybrid language be read as a form of feminist ‘double critique’ that resists Western and Islamic patriarchy? How do Essaydi’s images intervene in relation to the transnational and transcultural discourse and positioning of the ‘Muslimwoman’? What is the economy between the transnational, transglobal and translocal, and the simply local in Essaydi’s images? How do Essaydi’s photographs contribute to the critical (re)thinking of gender in the context of globalization?

In the early nineteen nineties, when Arab and Muslim women in the diaspora began to speak of the linguistic construct “Islam” and “feminism,” the two terms were not yet closely connected. The discourse was rather about Islamic feminism as a trend or as a different form of gender awareness and renewal in Islamic thought (Badran, 2009). With the start of the twenty first century, a large group of Muslim women scholars and activists working on feminist issues, researchers on Islam, theologians, and social scientists from Senegal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, Morocco, Malaysia, France, and the United States met for a conference in Barcelona (October 26-30, 2005) under the title “Junta Islamic Catalonia”. The Iranian Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Pakistani Refaat Hassan, Afro-American Amina Wadud, Pakistani Asma Barlas, and many other voices were heard officially discussing “Islamic feminism”, knowing that the phrase itself was used earlier in the journal Zenan, in post-revolutionary Iran.

The core of the research lies in the analysis of the Western usage of the labeling theory, its impact on Arab/Muslim countries and how Islamic feminism came to overcome those imposed labels on Arab/Muslim women. Since the question of woman’s role in Islam has come to be seen as one of its most controversial issues and the source of much criticism towards it, the present research investigates the efforts and reasons that led a large group of elite Arab women to secession from the global feminist institution and attempt to overcome western labeling through their own feminist school based on the Islamic religion.The research deals with The Translator as an implicational example of Islamic feminist theories and its most important ideas. The analysis of Sammar’s character, her life, and her relation with other characters helped in discussing and combining all these perverse issues of labeling, Islamic feminism and western control, through providing relative examples from the novel to support the discussion. Also, supporting the analysis of the text is three of the most important theories in the field of literature and research: power relations, deconstruction and the other theory.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore how Arab Muslim women entrepreneurs construe success, their identity as successful and the influence of Islam on these construals in the country-specific context of Lebanon.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve our aim, a qualitative interpretative methodology, drawing upon 25 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Muslim women entrepreneurs was adopted.FindingsEquipped with Islamic feminism, Arab women entrepreneurs experienced Islam as a malleable resource. Islam allowed them to construe success and their identity as successful at the juncture of their lived experiences as business owners, Muslims of good character and standing and Arab females. Ultimately, Islam unfolded as a dynamic religion that supports women's agency in a landscape dominated by deeply entrenched patriarchal societal and cultural norms and gender-based restrictions.Originality/valueFirst, we contribute to research on the effect of Islam on entrepreneurship by demonstrating the influence of Islam on women's identity construction as successful and their construals of success. Second, we contribute to research on how entrepreneurs construe success beyond situating their construals of success in opposing camps of either objective or subjective success. Third, we contribute to research on identity construction and identity work by demonstrating how Muslim women entrepreneurs' identity as successful is construed at the intersection of their personal and social identities.

Introduction 1. Arab Women's Literary History: critical response the Gulf War story gendering the War Story the Iraqi version migrating stories conclusion 2. In Search of Mother Tongues: Assia Djebar's prisonhouse Albert Memmi's struggles with his mother Abdelkebir Khatibi's bi-langue Jacques Derrida: le petit juif francais d'Algerie conclusion 3. Reviewing Beginnings: Islamic feminism Assia Djebar Fatima Mernissi Nawal El Saadawi conclusion 4. A Muslim Sister: Zaynab al-Ghazali's Muslim Ladies' Association survival in hell signs taken for wonders an islamic feminist mission conclusion 5. Multiple Critique: critical networking imageness the weight of the veil conclusion 6. Changing the Subject. Conclusion. Cited Works

This article investigates the development of Islamic and Arab feminism as frameworks for constructing women’s identity in the 20th and 21st centuries. It distinguishes between Islamic feminism, which operates through the reinterpretation of sacred texts such as the Qur’an and Hadith, and Arab feminism, which is more often embedded in secular, nationalist, and postcolonial discourses. It explores how Arab women writers have negotiated between religious tradition and feminist agency, producing hybrid models of identity that bridge the personal and the political. Tracing the evolution of feminist thought through four historical waves, the research highlights thematic developments such as legal rights, education, intersectionality, and digital activism. Particular attention is given to the reinterpretation of patriarchal concepts like qiwāma, the reclamation of religious authority by female scholars, and the role of literature in amplifying women’s voices. The article argues that both Islamic and Arab feminisms challenge hegemonic Western feminist narratives by offering culturally embedded alternatives rooted in lived realities and theological introspection. These feminist movements do not reject religion but instead aim to harmonize faith with gender justice, making them powerful vehicles for societal transformation. This study contributes to global feminist scholarship by presenting a nuanced, interdisciplinary approach to identity construction, one that foregrounds agency, tradition, and transformation in equal measure.

The academic discourse that deals with feminism and Islam makes some people cautious given the inherent double standards or oxymoronic nature of the combination of the following terms: “feminism” and “Islam”. Hence questions arise as to whether it is worthwhile for women to study Islam from a women’s issues perspective, or whether the religious monotheistic tradition and the patriarchal system it entails can coexist with the feminist standpoint. Do feminist Muslim women actually exist? Is Islamic feminism just “a trend” since Islamic discourse is en vogue and is widely discussed and dissected?

Fawziyya Shuwaysh al-Salim's novel Muzūn can be regarded as a feminist tract which is intended to raise Arabian women’s consciousness. This novel represents the women’s perspective vis-a-vis the ‘hegemonic’ Western feminist discourse through its exploration of several themes of feminist concern which range from femininity and gender socialisation to female sexuality, abortion, mothering, and tclitoridectomyt. This chapter posits that Muzūn portrays Zayana-the first and principal of the novel's three heroines, representing the pre-oil generations of Arabian women-as not only defiant and disruptive, but also as a revolutionary female figure. Despite her lack of education and the pervasiveness of patriarchal culture in her time, Zayana is the one who pioneers 'sexual revolution' in the novel. This is in spite of the fact that Zuwayna and Muzūn, Zayana's daughter and granddaughter, represent later generations of women who actually belong to the oil-engendered era of modern civilisation in the region.Keywords: Fawziyya Shuwaysh al-Salim; female sexuality; Islamic feminist; Kuwaiti women; Muzūn; pre-oil Arabian society

Current literature has not examined gender issues nor considered the governance regimes and institution cultures that shape national human resource development (HRD) systems. This is a key knowledge gap as many developing countries target women's learning in national HRD planning. This article addresses the following questions: what are the social and cultural factors that shape gender and HRD systems in three Arab Gulf States (Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia), and how are they linked to women's current social and economic status in the Gulf? In addition, how can national and institutional HRD frameworks support women's empowerment and education development? The findings of the investigation lead to a new framework for conceptualizing a gender and national HRD model that facilitates women's empowerment. I discuss how the model can guide government national HRD skills strategies and empowerment for women. In contributing to new knowledge on gender and HRD, I suggest that national HRD interventions improve women's livelihoods, but that partnership with civil society will be necessary to facilitate long-lasting social change. However, I also maintain that Arab women should be supported to develop feminist agency and create their own versions of Islamic feminism, relevant to their own empowerment agendas.

This paper explores how Islam is understood by Muslim women entrepreneurs and considers its influence on their entrepreneurial experiences in the country-specific context of Lebanon. In so doing, we adopt a qualitative interpretative approach, drawing upon 21 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs. Accordingly, we present empirical evidence detailing how Muslim women entrepreneurs utilise various aspects and teachings of Islam to make sense of their entrepreneurial decisions. We thus provide insight into how women’s entrepreneurship interlocks with Islamic teachings and the restrictions imposed by patriarchal socio-cultural values in Lebanon. This paper advances entrepreneurship research by demonstrating how Islam unfolds as a source of inspiration and resilience for women entrepreneurs, if and when equipped with an Islamic feminist interpretation.

El Saadawi, a writer, activist, scholar, doctor, and psychiatrist, stands as the most prominent feminist in the Arab Muslim world. Internationally recognized for her work on Arab-Muslim feminism and women’s rights, she faces frequent criticism for her feminist views, being labeled too “pro-Western” and anti-Islamic. Her activism asserts that sexual justice for Arab and Muslim women necessitates an anti-imperialist global struggle. El Saadawi’s influence paradoxically unites two opposing feminist trends: one within postcolonial frameworks in Western universities, advocating scripture-based Islamic feminism, and the other, social media-based and adversarial, exemplified by the #MosqueMeToo campaign. This chapter explores how El Saadawi’s work inspires and unifies these forms of feminist justice.

This article looks at the self-representations of Arab and Muslim women living in Malta, with respect to whether they veil or not. Most of the women participating in this research decided to veil at their later stage of adulthood, after periods of indecision and preparation for what they refer to as a long-term and serious commitment. Contrary to my initial expectations, other women who were interviewed and who do not wear the hijab, are not against the Islamic concept of veiling. They explain that they haven’t yet taken the decision to veil, because they do not feel ready to take this important step in their life. As the title of the article suggests, putting on the hijab is generally represented as “an affair of the heart”, an act that has to be carried out in an appropriate way. I therefore argue that this representation goes against the stereotype of “veil equals gender oppression,” which depicts Muslim women as simply passive agents. Moreover, the women’s decisions to veil indicate that rather than looking at the hijab by using the traditional-modern dichotomy, it is more adequate to analyse it as a “product” of modernity. Rather than a mere act of submission, the women’s accounts reflect a hybrid and complex embodiment of religion, identity and socio-politics. The religious aspect is explained both in terms of going through an individual spiritual path and in being exposed to the Islamist discourse that emphasizes modesty. The identity and socio political aspects are analysed by looking at the women’s transnational standing. It is seen that the women’s decisions are also influenced by the socio-political situations, not only of their homeland but also of the European countries in which their relatives may be residing. Finally, the article ends by referring to Islamic feminism as the more adept kind of feminism that reflects the women’s convincing arguments in favour of the hijab.