Introduction

Muslim societies are defined both as societies living under codified Islamic law, or in secular countries where Islam is used by the rulers and religious authority to justify their political interests (Gellner 1981; Fluer-Lobban 2004; Eickelman and Piscatori 1996).

The Western view of Islam as an oppressive religion has been time and again challenged by not only feminists in the West but also Muslim women and male reformist Muslim scholars. Islam has been one of the religious traditions that are often the subject of the feminist agenda. Mahmood (2005) sees this also as the result of the contentious relationship between Muslim societies and the West, with Islamic movements in many Muslim societies continuing to challenge secular liberal politics. Afshar (2008) argues that the portrayal by non-Muslims of Muslim women is influenced by ‘Orientalism’, a term coined by Edward Said in the late 1970s. This has contributed to the creation of a constructed image, which perceives Muslim women as ‘others’ primarily because they live by the laws of the land and under the regulation of their kin and community (Afshar 2008, 413). These images of Muslim women, however, need to be seen in the context that women’s lives are the result of the long and dynamic interaction that Muslim countries have historically had with the West (Afshar 2008, 413).

An-Na’im (2008a) suggests that in order to better understand the experience of Muslim women who live under social norms and legal regulations based on Islam, one needs to understand that Islam is not immune to the interests of the state. Similarly, Kandiyoti (1995, 21) observes that the experiences of Muslim women need to be examined within women’s lived contexts, including the political regimes, economic systems and diverse histories of the relationships between the state, society and imperial powers. It is imperative to consider the political and historical trajectories of Muslim society in assessing women’s suffering, rather than looking only at ‘religio-political’ ones (Abu-Lughod 2002, 784). For example, encounters between Muslim societies and Western imperialism exacerbated the centrality of women in politics in Muslim societies (Kandiyoti 1995, 20–21). Another example is how state-led post-independence nation-building projects and development have further advanced the subordination of women in the post-colonial Muslim worlds (Kandiyoti 1995, 23–24). Shaheed (1994, 998) made a similar point that in this situation political actors [male] attempted to gain political pre-eminence by justifying their legal, social and administrative formulations of Islam, which have disadvantaged women’s autonomy and self-actualization. In sum, gender construction in many Muslim worlds needs to be seen as the result of ideological contestation from colonialists, nationalism and socialism (Mojab 2001, 128).

This chapter locates this research within the broader literature on women’s movements, the struggle of Muslim women in Muslim societies.