An historical and theological enquiry, mernissi shows her anger due to the. There has been a surge of debate throughout the world on this issue, but no consensus. It will analyse what mernissi describes as the situation for women in islam, the roots of the problem and the solution needed. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. Whoever says that modern arab intellectuals have not engaged in intelligent analysis and criticism of their society, its values and its politics has not read the books of fatima mernissi. This work discusses mernissis intellectual trajectory from secular to islamic feminism in order to trace the evolution of socalled islamic feminist theory. In her book scheherazade goes west, she wrote that western cultural ideas about the harem have nothing in common with the harem she herself got to know. Fatema mernissi moroccan sociologist and writer britannica.
Pdf an emancipatory feminist discourse within an islamic. But fatima mernissi examined fifteen centuries of islamic history and discovered that the critics were wrong. The corruption and the authoritarianism of these movements, the. In her groundbreaking new book, moroccan sociologist fatima mernissi explores the ways in which people on dramatically opposing sides feminists and defenders of democracy versus violent fundamentalists must use the same. Mernissi is one of the preeminent koranic scholars of our time, an outspoken feminist, and author of beyond the veil, islam and democracy, and dreams of trespass. Mernissi is obviously one of the most important feminist writers and she has influenced other feminist muslim writers. A feminist interpretation of womens rights in islam, translated by mary jo lakeland new york. Modern states, legal reforms and feminisms in muslim countries alina isac alak university of bucharest alina. As fate would have it, the day that fatima mernissi left this world, musawah was in.
The veil and the male elite is a tricky book to rate, since i am definitely not its target audience. Womens oppression, she maintains, is due to the political manipulation of religion by. The forgotten queens of islam university of minnesota press. In this nowclassic book, islamic sociologist fatima mernissi explores the ways in which progressive muslimsdefenders of democracy, feminists, and others trying to resist fundamentalismmust use the same sacred texts as muslims who use them for violent ends, to prove. When benazir bhutto became prime minister of pakistan in 1988, many claimed that it was a blasphemous assault on islamic tradition since no muslim state, critics alleged, had ever been governed by a woman. Can islam, a religion revealed in 6 th century arabia, be compatible with democracy, a product of the modern west. Pdf the moroccan womens rights movement exhibits a long history of polarization. Fatema mernissi really relishes academic discourse. A revised edition was published in britain in 1985 and in the us in 1987. She critically examines the classical corpus of religiousjuristic texts, including the hadith, and reinterprets them from a feminist perspective. In the book the forgotten queens of islam, fatima mernissi uses an intersectional. Mernissi is considered to be one of the major figures in feminist thought for both morocco and muslim society in general. Tales of a harem girlhood, an insider s view of the daily restrictions of moroccan harem life. Fatima mernissis struggle with islam and democracy eren.
Patriarchal dominance and misinterpretation of sacred texts in islamic countries. In islam and democracy, mernissi examines contemporary problems of the muslim world through sociological methodology. In the forgotten queens of islam, a short and very readable volume, fatima mernissi, perhaps the best known writer on woman and islam, establishes a historical foundation for womens political independence. As mernissi points out, islam has always recognized the legitimacy of female sexuality. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Read islam and democracy fear of the modern world with new introduction by fatima mernissi available from rakuten kobo. Perseus books publishing 1991 mernissi, fatima women and fundamentalism middle east report 153 1998 pp. Perseus books publishing 1994 mernissi, fatima the veil and the male elite. Fatema mernissi was born on 27 september 1940 in fez, morocco. Mernissi, the muslim concept of active female sexuality jesse k. The second edition of the book, 2002, includes mernissi s introduction. Additionally, feminist gerda lerner traces this creation of patriarchy through the continual repetition of maledominated events and rituals. Islam and democracy ebook by fatima mernissi 9780786731008. Fatema mernissi and islamic feminism literary theory and.
A very clear and useful discussion, providing a concise but thoroughly accessible hermeneutics of arabic and koranic terminology. Fatima mernissi, one of moroccos foremost writers in the fields of sociology and islamic feminism, has died. In this classic study, internationally renowned sociologist fatema mernissi argues that womens oppression is not due to islam as this religion in fact celebrates womens power. The prophet of islam had only one daughter named fatima. Fatema mernissi, a moroccan sociologist who was one of the founders of islamic feminism, whose work included studies of the sexual politics of islamic scripture and a. Must fundamentalism win out in the middle east, or will democracy ever be possible. A moroccan, she was born in 1940 into a middleclass home in fez, exactly. Secular and islamic feminist critiques in the work of. The following entry presents an overview of mernissis career through 2001.
An expanded and updated edition of this classic study includes a new introduction on muslim women and fundamentalism, in which fatima mernissi argues that. Fatima mernissi s book the forgotten queens of islam is a historical study that analyzes womens place in the public sphere and their relationship with power. She grew up in the harem of her affluent paternal grandmother along with various female kin and servants. A feminist interpretation of womens rights in islam london. Islam, sultanes oubliees forgotten queens of islam and islam et democratie islam and. Her book beyond the veil has become standard collegereading for most people investigating the subject of womens rights in the islamic tradition. A moroccan sociologist, she writes from a feminist perspective, this time about islamic concepts of freedom, order and responsibility, and their compatibility with democracy. Recovering the stories of fifteen islamic queens, this remarkable exploration. Fear of the modern world, translated by mary jo lakeland, new york addisonwolsey publishing co. Moroccan feminist fatima mernissi asserts that womyn are considered powerful by islam perhaps even dangerously so, which can easily be misinterpreted to mean that womyn need to be constrained.
Mernissi believes that this is an explicit humiliation of women, because it asserts that one woman cant satisfy a man. In this nowclassic book, islamic sociologist fatima mernissi explores the ways in which progressive muslimsdefenders of democracy, feminists, and others trying to resist fundamentalismmust use the same sacred texts as muslims who use them for violent. Mernissi, the muslim concept of active female sexuality. She was best known for her books beyond the veil, tales of a harem girlhood and the. Her mother khadija had two other daughters from her two earlier marriages. I suppose i expected a feminist look at modern muslim culture, and this book is really more a theological look at womens rights and a historical look at how various verses of the koran that are used to justify antifeminist sentiments in muslim cultures came to be included. Fatima mernissi 1940 also transliterated as fatema mernissi moroccan nonfiction writer, memoirist, and editor. Mernissi, a moroccan sociologist whose books include beyond the veil, islam and democracy and dreams of trespass, died in morocco on nov. Born in fez to a middleclass family, mernissi studied at the mohammed v university in rabat and later went to paris, where she worked briefly as a journalist. As one of the best known arabmuslim feminists, mernissis influence extends beyond. According to fatima mernissi, a moroccan feminist writer, the confusion between islam as a belief and islam as a state religion contributed greatly on the failure of the leftistsecular movements in the arab world1. The book also engages critically with the work of other muslim. Malefemale dynamics in modern muslim society in 1975, mernissi has sought to reclaim the ideological discourse on women and sexuality from the stranglehold of patriarchy. The debate over womens rights and islam is often politicized and riddled with stereotypes.
Muslim women are not all victims, renegades or standardbearers for religious or cultural authenticity. Modern states, legal reforms and feminisms in muslim. The late moroccan muslim feminist scholar fatima mernissi and subsequent islamic exegetes. The material presented is clear and interesting, and it. Fatima mernissi did not confine her criticism to the islamic world, but also criticised the attitude of the western world to women in islam. Hazrat fatima sa was born five years before bethat when muhammad s was about 35 years old and her mother khadija was about 50 years old. Islam and democracy fear of the modern world mary lakeland, fatima mernissi on. Fear of the modern world, fatima mernissi employs a. Islam and democracy by fatima mernissi basic books. Beyond the veil has become a classic, especially in the fields of anthropology and sociology on women in the arab world, the mediterranean area or muslim societies in general.
In fact, sexuality is considered to be part of human identity in islam and there are various documented quotations made by the prophet muhammad that indicate the significance of sexual activity in the lives of both men and woman. The moroccan scholar fatima mernissi is frequently upheld as the muslim worlds leading feminist thinker. Fatima mernissi chapter 6 islam, democracy, and cosmopolitanism. In beyond the veil, fatima mernissi argues that the islamic view of women as regarded as a classic book in the united states, beyond the veil has never. Fatima mernissi brings a radically different background to the task of giving women a voice in doing daily battle. Basic, 1991 the question of the role of women in islamic public life has provoked debate both within and without the community since the earliest days of the prophet. Fatima mernissi 1991 simorgh, womens resource and publications centre. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Three main publications form the basis for this outline.
Regardless of what she is writing about whether it be womens rights in the arab world, the wests fear of islam, or cultural globalization the moroccan academic and essayist succeeds not only in informing people, but also getting them to think and entertaining them at the same time. In this nowclassic book, islamic sociologist fatima mernissi explores the ways in which progressive muslimsdefenders of democracy, feminists, and others trying. As an islamic feminist, mernissi was largely concerned with islam and. Although her parents had a monogamous marriage, she grew up living in a harem with her mother and grandmother, who was one of her grandfathers nine wives. The missiological implications of the islamic feminism of. Section one provides an emic view by summarising mernissis central arguments. Fatema mernissi was a moroccan feminist writer and sociologist. Beyond the veil by fatima mernissi overdrive rakuten. She is presently professor of sociology at the university mohammed v in rabat, morocco. This book, however, islam and democracy, is a disorganized rant. They are not foils with which to bash islam or through which sympathetic westerners can congratulate themselves on their cultural superiority. From the writing of her first book, beyond the veil. When the prophet married her, both daughters came with her mother to live in the house of the prophet. Mernissis first monograph, beyond the veil, was published in 1975.
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