Beyond orientalist myths

Two traditional representations of the Muslim woman have prevailed in the culture of the Global North, one sexualising and objectifying her, the other presenting her as an oppressed victim of her culture and religion. As the critics from Edward Said to Gayatri Spivak have pointed out, the Muslim woman of these representations has no voice; there is always somebody else speaking for her. Not this time. Samia Rahman, a daughter of first-generation Muslim immigrants to the UK in the late twentieth century, wrote this book to amplify the plentitude of Muslim women’s voices. She took into consideration the rich evolvements of recent decades, from the unprecedented pressures on one’s self-perception by social media to the notoriety of Islam as a prime example of misogyny in various contexts. From the white politicians who want to liberate Muslim women from the domination of Muslim men to the new generations of white men, united in the manosphere, the Red Pill, and incel cultures, who believe women are the cause of all their troubles and see the solution in subjecting all women to the domination of men (the presumed faith of the Muslim women).

The myth

Sure, confirms Rahman, misogyny exists in Muslim communities. Yet the underlying assumption that it must be so difficult to be a Muslim woman because Islam is so exceptionally terrible «is a myth» (p.214). Muslim women are among the most talked-about categories of people in the world. «We come in all shapes and sizes, the product of all milieus and circumstances,» claims Rahman. Still, they are subject to myth and misunderstanding. «Objectified, fetishised, scrutinised, judged and policed, we live in a world where everyone feels entitled to an opinion about us» (p.211). Rahman, herself a scholar and journalist, interviewed several researchers, journalists, activists, and women and men from Muslim communities. She revealed the many faces of Muslim womanhood within the UK and showed «how Muslim women move beyond the tropes and the stereotypes and the oppressions and the injustice» (p.9).

Muslim women are among the most talked-about categories of people in the world.

The global majority

The most distinct and outstanding feature of this bold book is its approach. Instead of «railing at injustice and offering quick fixes,» Rahman expressed «our multiple, messy, contradictory and complicated truths as we navigate misogyny, sometimes with success, and other times less so» (ibid.). Such a flexible and broad approach is common for academic writing. Yet, this book is addressed to the broadest audience interested in understanding what it means to be a Muslim woman in the UK today. Let me point to some conceptual foundations of this approach.

First, the book is written from the perspective of the ‘global majority,’ a term, explains Rahman, «for non-white people, who collectively make up around 85 percent of the world’s population» (p.108). This enables the recognition of the traditions and discourses of feminism in communities from the ‘global majority’, such as the involvement of women in the Indian subcontinent in the fight for liberation from colonial occupation, which «had just been erased» (ibid.) from (the white, middle-class version of) feminism. And also exposes «a greater fallacy within liberal circles” (p.109) that only Black and brown communities harbour oppression and misogyny.

Close to God

Another element is the level of spirituality and the role of religion. Not only is the Qur’an, for the vast majority of Muslims, considered «a complete guide to living» (p. 30). For many women, according to Rahman, marriage «is one of the pathways through which to become closer to God» (p. 210). The experts interviewed for the book, as well as its author, share this intimate involvement and experience of religion on a day-to-day basis. This personal connection permeates the discussions and interpretations of Islam, enabling a well-informed, participant reading, the rejection of the mainstream, and the move towards alternative interpretations. Starting with the assertions that the Qur’an encourages critical thinking to enrich debates, seek clarity, and refine practices, while the Sunnah (the life and example of the Prophet Muhammad) includes questions raised by women of the first generation of Muslims that were answered directly by God (p.8). The claim that it is «clearly recorded in the Sunnah» that «the Prophet Muhammad was playful and affectionate with his wives» (p.186) and the conclusion that «Islam was a radically inclusive movement at its inception because it paid attention to all the people who were marginalised in their societies and brought them in» (p. 215).

The gaze

Through a thorough study of diverse sources, from the scholarship of Islam to personal testimonies, Rahman revealed how the patriarchal worldview had shaped the structure of the Qur’an, how Muslim women resisted it, how liberatory struggles were written out, and patriarchal values were inscribed into the Islam during diverse historical periods (the Victorian-era colonialism for example). Present times are particularly tough because social media enforced the omnipresence of the objectifying look of the others. Existing as minorities in the West, Muslims are constantly aware of being a minority and have to be more mindful of how they articulate their views (p.81). Besides, the issue is closely related to the veil problem. Islamic teachings advise us not to look at people as objects but as a sum of all their humanity (p.82). Both men and women have been granted the ability to gaze and are compelled to look upon others. Any woman has the right to veil herself if this is what she wishes to do. Yet the barriers, in the form of veiling, lowering the eyes, or physical separation of the sexes, «are a misapprehension of Islam’s wisdom» (ibid.). It is, claims Rahman, «the gaze itself that we must erase from our psyches in order to create a healthy and respectful dynamic of interaction and appreciation between human beings.»

The book Muslim Women and Misogyny is a vital contribution to that.