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Feminism And Islamic Fundamentalism – The Limits of Postmodern Analysis By Haider Moghissi

FEMINISM AND ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM

Preface

The idea of writing a book about feminism and Islamic fundamental­ism developed out of the discomfort I felt over several years as I watched and listened to academic debates on the subject.

Gradually, one noticed a shift in accounts about women’s lives in Islamic societies, from a sympathetic appreciation of the plight of women under fundamentalist rule to extravagant affirmations of Muslim women’s ‘agency’, gender-awareness, empowerment, and security within a protected space.

In a heroic effort to rescue ‘Islam’ from its bad reputation in the treatment of women, discussions blurred distinctions between ‘Islam’ as a faith, ‘Islam’ as the ideology of a movement in opposition, and Islam as a ruling system, that is, Islamic fundamentalism.

As if charmed by a drumbeat from afar, some scholars have even yielded to the Islamist’s intellectual seductions, transforming the robust defense of Islamic faith and the urgent need to protect Muslim minorities in the West into an apology for fundamentalist practice where it needs no defense. and where, in fact, it exercises a terrible monopoly of political and cultural power.

In this, they confuse the principle of recognizing and affirming the rights of Muslim minorities in the West with an unprincipled tolerance for the oppressive political and cultural practices in countries where Muslims form a majority and the full power of government is in the hands of a theocratic elite.

In the name of anti-imperialism, these intellectuals turn a blind eye to the consequences of such utopian experiments for people actually living under fundamentalist rule; and little by little, these discursive slippages and confusions and outright abandonments have cost much to the region’s women (and men), as they struggle for a more humane and democratic system, a quality of intellectual freedom taken for granted in the West.

These apologetic accounts were more troubling because they were not simply journalistic reports which combined rudimentary obser­vations and government propaganda with exotic fantasies and the reflections of taxi drivers who drive the reporters around in Tehran, Cairo, or other Middle Eastern cities.

What has disturbed me the most – and, I know that, in this, I am not alone have been the arguments elegantly presented by secular Middle East scholars, including some feminists of prominence.

This book is an attempt to illuminate the contradictory implications of academic theorization for those theorized.

 I am aware that in this I may have amplified, unwittingly, the political impact of the postmodern, post-colonial perspectives.

The scholars whose views I have opposed can at least take comfort in finding that their academic works have some real and earnest connection with the ‘outside world and with the realm of politics, inspiring debate, and contestation. Is this not what we, as academics, appreciate and aspire to?

The remarkable struggle of women throughout the Middle East for the democratization of their culture and society, including the strug­gles of Iranian women to whom I am politically, intellectually, and emotionally closely associated, has provided me with a never-ending source of inspiration and strength.

I bow to their resilience, intelli­gence, and ingenuity and owe them a great debt of gratitude.

I hope this book makes a modest contribution to debates and struggles for political democracy, human rights, and social and cultural change in Islamic societies.

I am grateful to others for more particular reasons. I thank Atkinson College, York University, for the support provided by two Research Grants: I would like to thank Louise Murray at Zed Books for her confidence in this book since its inception and for her support throughout the process.

I also thank Justin Dyer for his careful copy-editing and good suggestions. Thanks are also due to Ali Rahnema for his friendship and support. I am deeply grateful to Mark Goodman for many stimulating discussions and helpful critiques, and for his generous editorial contributions.

 I thank Shahrzad Mojab, with whom I have shared and discussed many of the intellectual and political ideas in this book. Special thanks are due to Saeed Rahuema for his unfailing support and for always being the most critical and, often, least forgiving reader of my writings.

His critiques and constructive suggestions helped me to improve the manuscript. It should go without saying that the short­comings are all mine.