New Middle East Needs Fusion of Islam and Feminism

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http://womensenews.org/story/books/130323/new-middle-east-needs-fusion-islam-and-feminism#.UU8bdKWlo20


By Isobel Coleman
WeNews guest author
Sunday, March 24, 2013

As the Middle East reconfigures politically, post Arab Spring, women are fighting for their rights, but not at the expense of their faith, says Isobel Coleman in the new preface of her book "Paradise Beneath Her Feet."


Women face off with police in a protest in Cairo, Egypt.
Credit: Sarah Carr on Flickr, under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

(WOMENSENEWS)--The new Middle East is still taking shape, but clearly, the Arab uprisings have brought Islamism--the belief that Islam should instruct social, political and legal affairs, not just one's personal life--into the political mainstream.

Although the early instigators of Tunisia's and Egypt's protest movements counted many secularists, it is not at all surprising that the momentum of change has been captured by Islamists. Islamic organizations are better organized and better financed than liberal ones, and have well-established mosque-based networks through which they have long delivered social services to broad swaths of the population. Moreover, Islam is the cultural touchstone for most people, and polls consistently show large majorities across the Arab world support Sharia (Islamic law) as the basis of legislation.

In Egypt's first post-Hosni Mubarak parliamentary election, Islamists won more than 70 percent of the seats, and then in 2012, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Muhammad Mursi captured Egypt's presidency. Islamists have also come to power through the ballot box in Tunisia and have gained greater influence in Yemen.

Islamists' participation in politics has demonstrated that far from being monolithic, there is a broad spectrum of Islamist positions on such critical issues as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and women's rights. For example, conservative Islamists would deny women most legal and family rights and believe that they should play little role in the public sphere. More progressive Islamists support broad rights for women and also encourage an active public role--including political leadership--for women. This range of perspectives helps explain how, according to a 2012 Gallup poll, Arab women are as likely as men to favor Sharia as a source of law. Many believe that Islam will in fact protect their rights.

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