Freedom and Listening: Islamic and Secular Feminist Philosophies

Abstract

In her recent analysis of Islamic feminist philosophies, Aysha Hidayatullah concludes that Islamic feminists need to embrace radical uncertainty, in a path toward freedom. Amina Wadud, on the other hand, argues for a conception of individual freedom as engaged surrender, in which the moral agent is critically engaged in a relationship of trust with God, in the service of social justice. I argue that while openness to uncertainty and transgression of limits are guiding normative principles of western secularism, the attachment to this negative form of freedom can also serve as a form of closure to alternative discourses of freedom, in which freedom is understood as engagement in relationship. I suggest that the ideal of engaged surrender could be taken up as an exemplary form of agency and individual freedom for an understanding of freedom of speech that includes receptivity and listening.