I have learned a great deal from many of my professors. Yet, only a select few have inspired me and influenced my research interests in areas I only had a peripheral conception of. Dr. Hibba Abugideiri is one of those special professors, as is Dr. Maghan Keita (separate post to follow). I took Dr. Abugideiri’s Women in the Modern Middle East course last year and became intrigued with and excited about issues and themes at the intersection of gender, symbolic representation and power in the Middle East. She introduced me to cultural anthropological frameworks helpful in examining women not only in Muslim cultures, but in other societies as well. Participating in her course, as well as engaging in private conversations with her, has helped me confront my misconceptions and preconceived notions of the Middle East, Muslim culture and Muslim women. Dr. Abugideiri has also helped me think about more broadly about my research interests – Afro German women. As a result of some of our conversations, I have found myself paying closer attention to the intersection of Afro German and Turko-German women in German society, as well as the common threads and experiences of culturally hyphenated women around the world (a topic I will come back to in another post). Most importantly, she has imparted to me the importance of empowering oneself with the appropriate and necessary vocabulary with which to engage others in interfaith and intercultural dialogues.
When I met with her earlier this week, the primary goal was to discuss my upcoming comprehensive exam (November 1). However, much of our conversation focused on the ways in which our bicultural identities in forms our work, whether in the scholarship we produce or the activism we engage in. As always, she gave me considerable food for thought on my academic future and some of the current work that I am engaged in. I hope to continue our discusses, even after my time at Villanova is over. I also feel quite confident about the exams (in spite of the amount of work that is ahead of me).
Dr. Abugideiri contributes to discussions about Islam in American, as well as throughout the world. She participated in the U.S. State Department’s American Speaker and Specialist Program. She also presented Speaking from Behind the Veil as part of the Georgia Tech’s Prometheus Club Lecture Series. The lecture/discussion is definitely worth viewing. The Q&A towards the end of the segment is lively and quite insightful. In her presentation she examines Islam and the Qur’an and places gender and religious symbolism within an extremely useful historical matrix. Her comments in the presentation remind me of a passage from one of the books we examined in her course:
In the 1970s, often to the consternation of parents and siblings, certain progressive young Arab women voluntarily donned the veil. The movement, which rapidly expanded and continued to gather momentum, has sparked controversy within Islamic culture, as well as reactions ranging from perplexity to outrage from those outside it. Western feminist commentators have been particularly vociferous in decrying the veil, which they glibly interpret as a concrete manifestation of patriarchal oppression.
However, most Western observers fail to realize that veiling, which has a long and complex history, has been embraced by many Arab women as both an affirmation of cultural identity and a strident feminist statement. Not only does the veil demarginalize women in society, but it also represents an expression of liberation from colonial legacies. In short, contemporary veiling is more often than not about resistance.
- Fadwa El Guindi, Veil: Modesty, Privacy and Resistance
I am happy to announce that Ramadan Kareem, a blog that traditionally focuses on highlighting the ways in which Muslims around the world celebrate the month of Ramadan, has chosen to keep its doors open all year around. I contributed several pieces that focused on various interfaith Ramadan events throughout the Philadelphia area during this Ramadan season. I would love to see this blog contribute to the discussion of a new, more equitable, analysis and establish a more productive and constructive lens through which to approach Islam and Muslim cultures. The traditional Western lens, with roots located in 19th century imperialism, is problematic at best. Further, this frame of reference is subconsciously inherited and implemented to draw inaccurate and damaging political meanings from various objects within the Muslim nexus. Through this, many in the West are socialized into seeing the symbolism of such images as the veil (and other arbitrarily assigned emblems of Islam) as one of oppression, subjugation and restriction.
Throughout the West, Islam is often packaged within an ahistorical matrix, without any real conceptualization of its political, social, and cultural development. Further, Muslim women are often appropriated as political tool to within the West. Is it prudent to propose the squashing of the Islamist movement by saying “Muslims can be good Muslims by being secular”, particularly by being secular to the point of not being religious?
There are some exciting, new trends emerging in Islamic Studies, particularly among the Islamic feminist intelligentsia. The works of scholars such as Leila Ahmed, Amina Wadud, Hibba Abugideiri, Asma Barlas, Shirin Ebadi, and Davar Ardalan, are a fundamental component to my gaining knowledge about women and gender issues throughout the Muslim world. Their works have helped me conceptualization women in Islam beyond my preconceived (and somewhat inaccurate) understandings. These women have made incredible strides in reclaiming their bodies and identities from centuries of appropriation by masculine powers, whether it be from within their own societies or from the West.
Feminism in Iran sounds like an impossible contradiction, but Iranian women ARE among the most active reformers in the Muslim world. They’re pushing the interpretation of Islamic law in ways that modernize the treatment of women. The debate over religion and modernity in the Muslim world will continue for decades to come but Iran, the birthplace of the first modern theocracy, might very well be preparing for a future Islamic reformation.
- Iran Davar Ardalan, Women’s Search for Justice (undated)
Which feminist authors are “must reads” for you, particularly in developing your understanding of diversity among women and women’s issues around the world?
