Faith-Based Activism: Muslim Women Raising Social Consciousness

20th April 2024

Faith-Based Activism: Muslim Women Raising Social Consciousness | Dr Mahjabeen Dhala

Arguing for faith-based initiatives led by visible Muslim women in a secular world, and at times a secular academy is not without its challenges. Constructive approaches that focus on the narratives of premodern Muslim women’s contributions to feminist theory and theology remain underrepresented. Since the turn of the century, unabated Islamophobic rhetoric has misconstrued the embodiment of religious identity by Muslim women as a sign of religious subjugation and has kept Muslim feminist scholarship heavily focused on critiquing their tradition setting the development of women’s studies in Islam on a prescriptive course, chartered by mainstream white feminist thought.

Concurrently, the secularist strategy of promoting liberal and progressive scholarship on Islam has deterred feminist approaches that argue for the empowerment of Muslim women from within the tradition. In this paper, I will draw on my recent book on the sermon of Fatima which draws on a textual-historical analysis of the sermon, tracing the early origins of female empowerment and agency in Islam, challenging the common Western notion that God-centric Muslim women are unable, unwilling, or unauthorized to actively engage in promoting social justice and articulating a transformative praxis. Arguing for the sermon as an early architype of Muslim women driven by their faith in a Just God to initiate and sustain faith-based justice work in Muslim cultures and societies, I will share two contemporary female-led social justice initiatives.

First, I will explore the impactful work of a small group of women who work exhaustively to ensure that hearing-impaired congregants have access to religious education in the UK. Then, I will share insights from my interview with the Outreach and Advocacy director of the An-Nisa Hope Center in the US, an organization that is driven by Islamic values to prevent family abuse. Arguing for faith-based initiatives led by visible Muslim women in a secular context, including within academic spheres, presents significant challenges. Constructive methodologies focusing on the narratives of premodern Muslim women’s contributions to feminist theory and theology are notably lacking. Since the turn of the century, persistent Islamophobic discourse has consistently misrepresented the embodiment of religious identity by Muslim women as indicative of their subjugation. Consequently, Muslim feminist scholarship has primarily centered on critiquing traditional norms, thus framing the development of women’s studies in Islam within the confines of mainstream white feminist paradigms. Simultaneously, the secularist agenda, aiming to promote liberal and progressive interpretations of Islam, has marginalized feminist approaches advocating for the empowerment of Muslim women from within a God-centric paradigm.

Dr. Mahjabeen Dhala is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California where she also serves as Chair of the Women’s Studies in Religion program and co-editor of the Journal for Teaching Theology and Religions. Dr. Dhala’s work focuses on retrieving the narratives of premodern Muslim women as theologians, exegetes, and activists. Her recent book from Cambridge University Press titled Feminist Theology and Social Justice in Islam: A Study on the Sermon of Fatima offers a fresh approach of exploring this seventh-century sermon from feminist and social justice perspectives. Dr. Dhala also received a Wabash grant to conduct research on the state of Muslim female theologians in the contemporary academic landscape.

0:00 Introduction & Technical Setup

1:36 Why This Conference Matters

3:00 Community Work, Academia & New Book

5:15 Sayyida Fatima al-Zahra as Faith-Based Activism

7:30 God in the Modern World: Naming & Framing Faith

9:50 Islamophobia, Secularism & Public Religion

11:10 Belonging Between Community & Academia

13:50 Gender, Power & Uncomfortable Religious Questions

17:00 Women, Leadership & Moral Authority

21:00 Contemporary Female-Led Activism & Conclusion The views expressed in ICAIR’s public lectures do not necessarily reflect the views of ICAIR or the WFKSIMC.

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