Saddeka Arebi
Encyclopedia
Dr. Saddeka Mohammed Arabi (died July 2007) was a Libya
n-American
social anthropologist and author
. Born in the Libyan capital of Tripoli
, she immigrated with her family to the United States
during the late 1970s, eventually settling in Northern California
. After obtaining her doctorate
, she subsequently served as a Professor of Anthropology
at the University of California, Berkeley
, San Francisco State University
, and Saint Mary's College of California
. She was also an active member of the Muslim World League
(Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami), one of the largest Islamic non-governmental organization
s in the world consisting of Muslim religious figures from twenty-two countries. She died in July 2007 while visiting relatives in Libya.
). Based on interviews and textual analyses, the study maintains that female writers significantly contribute to the definition and interpretation of history, religion and tradition in Saudi Arabia
despite the cultural, political and religious constraints placed on them as women and writers. In this groundbreaking work, Arebi draws on ethnographic and literary evidence to establish the uniqueness of Saudi women writers who: “emerged not only as a subject of discourse but also as generators of discourse producing their own texts and forming their own concepts for comprehending the universe. Since the late 1970s and despite the overwhelming power of discourse about them, women's words were unrelenting and daring in their challenge."
She quotes a fatwa
(religious legal opinion) by Shaikh Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn Baaz
from 1978 summarizing the fundamentalist view of women, which the women writers have been trying to change. The opinion states: “Attacking men's guardianship of women is an objection to God and an attack on His Book and on His prudent law. This is great in deity (Kufr akbar) by the consensus of Islam's ulema
... It is absolutely necessary that the newspaper be publicly punished by stopping its publication. The woman who wrote and the editor in-chief must be tried and disciplined in a deterring manner."
Her book answers a question she raised: “How do women themselves use words as a means to counter the language of power, and aesthetics as a political strategy for revisions of concepts, ideas, and institutions that are used to control them?"
However, Arebi argues these writers do not necessarily conform to Western feminists’ ideas
of resistance or their definitions of patriarchy
. In another earlier work, Arebi made an important remark concerning Muslim
women:
writers seeking to establish a dialect between opposition to certain aspects of society and affirmation of major cultural values
and institutions. Arebi argues that appreciation of these approaches is critical to understanding how Saudi female writers gain access to the field of cultural politics
and submit their own interpretations of Islam, gender relationships
, and women's potential roles in society. She posits that:
Chapter 1 ("Women's Opportunities & the Social Organization of Writing") investigates literature’s social organization and the basis of women writers’ legitimacy and the structure of their opportunity to engage in literary activity. Chapter 2 (“History of the Present and the Presence of History: Traffic in Symbols, Knowledge, and Experience”) focuses on three writers. Poet Fowziyha Abu-Khalid, is interested in the relationship of literature and religion
. She believes "that the right of discussion and of participation in discourse should be accorded to everybody." Change, she believes, depends on the masses, not intellectuals. Ruqayya Ash-Shabib, best known as a short story writer, focuses on ordinary women who profoundly changed history. Two examples are Sheherazade
and Balqees, the Queen of Sheba. She believes "that the problem is not male dominance, but rather female submission." Raja'a Alem
, a pioneering playwright, thinks literature’s primary function is "liberation of the individual."
Chapter 3 (“Victimization Literature: The Poetics of Justice & the Politics of Representation”) concentrates on three short story authors. Sharifa As-Shamlan "draws most of her stories from the real lives of women with whom she comes in contact as a social worker, especially those in prison
." Khayriyya As-Saggaf explains she doesn't "write for someone who is in a hurry, who reads in a car, or who reads while busy doing something else." Najwa Hashim’s stories generally deal with women "who struggle with the discrepancy between the real and the ideal."
Chapter 4 (“Redefining the Issues: The Politics of Re-vision & the Production of Difference”) examines three of the most widely read female Saudi essayists. Juhayer Al-Musa'ed's skill revolves around her ability to ask the right questions without necessarily providing answers. Not especially popular with women readers, Juhayer is seen as "declaring her alliance with men, hence emphasizing the premises of the dominant discourse." Fatna Shaker believes the problem of how societies arrange themselves "can only be solved if understood in broader terms and explored in terms of structural causes." Sohaila Zain Al-Abedin is perceived "by other literary men and women as being in line with the dominant discourse."
Chapter 5 (“Literary Marginalization & the Privatization of the Public”) deals with the critical response to their writing in which a shift occurs from “the woman as private” yet a subject of public discourse to a situation in which the products of women’s minds that are made public are privatized. In the concluding chapter (“Conclusions and Implications”) Arebi theorizes the implications of the women writers’ role within their culture, and the cultural apparatus driving their discourse. She attempts to answer the question of whether we are justified in seeing their endeavor as a form of resistance, considering that they establish a dialectical relationship between opposition and affirmation of major cultural values and institutions.
to conduct field research
in Saudi Arabia, she was finally granted one for three months beginning in early March 1989. During those three years, in addition to fulfilling her teaching responsibilities, she immersed herself in reading and identifying most, if not all, Saudi women writers of consequence. Once in the field, most data was generated through personal interviews with current writers, as well as several women who had either written occasionally or discontinued their literary activities. The writers interviewed were also curious about Arebi personally:
ingrained in their family that it is through fairness, hard work, moderation, and tolerance that one can reach other truths and hence achieve a fuller humanity. She learned from them an important Islamic concept that “middleness” (wasaţ), being in the middle, even as a child, does not have to mean “between-ness,” being torn or on shaky ground, but can be a firm and advantageous position from which one can see both sides more clearly. Arebi explained that this positive image of wasaţ extended to her scholarly position between two discourses and two civilization
s and symbolized her aim to bring these two worlds to a mutual understanding.
. On October 4, 1997, she participated in the 51st annual conference hosted by the Middle East Institute
in Washington, DC, entitled “The Middle East into the Twenty-First Century.” The conference drew over 400 journalists, diplomats, business people, NGOs and academics. In the final panel, Arebi partnered with Fadhil Chalabi of the Center for Global Energy Studies, explaining how the changing dynamics of oil
exports will alter the economic and political situation in the Persian Gulf
. She lectured at numerous events for Muslim Students Associations, such as one delivered in 1998 during Islam Awareness Week at Stanford University
, entitled “Politics of misrepresentation; Women and power in Islamic societies.” On February 22, 2007, she presented a public lecture entitled “Discerning Islam: Access, Voice and Contexts of Interpretive Responsibility” for the Center for Islamic Studies of the Graduate Theological Union at UC Berkeley. In one of her final appearances, Arebi lectured on her experiences during Hajj
at an event hosted by the Muslim Student Alliance at Santa Clara University
on March 1, 2007.
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
social anthropologist and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. Born in the Libyan capital of Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
, she immigrated with her family to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the late 1970s, eventually settling in Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
. After obtaining her doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
, she subsequently served as a Professor of Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
, and Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's College of California is a private, coeducational college located in Moraga, California, United States, a small suburban community about east of Oakland and 20 miles east of San Francisco. It has a 420-acre campus in the Moraga hills. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church...
. She was also an active member of the Muslim World League
Muslim World League
The Muslim World League is one of the largest Islamic non-governmental organizations. Muslim religious figures from 22 states founded it in Makkah in 1962.-Structure:...
(Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami), one of the largest Islamic non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
s in the world consisting of Muslim religious figures from twenty-two countries. She died in July 2007 while visiting relatives in Libya.
Literary Contributions
In May 1994, Arebi published Women and Words in Saudi Arabia: The Politics of Literary Discourse, where she examines the works of nine contemporary Saudi women writers and their influence on Arabic cultural discourse (see Women in Arab societiesWomen in Arab societies
Women in the Arab world, as in other areas of the world, have throughout history experienced discrimination and have been subject to restrictions of their freedoms and rights. Some of these practices are based on religious beliefs, but many of the limitations are cultural and emanate from tradition...
). Based on interviews and textual analyses, the study maintains that female writers significantly contribute to the definition and interpretation of history, religion and tradition in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
despite the cultural, political and religious constraints placed on them as women and writers. In this groundbreaking work, Arebi draws on ethnographic and literary evidence to establish the uniqueness of Saudi women writers who: “emerged not only as a subject of discourse but also as generators of discourse producing their own texts and forming their own concepts for comprehending the universe. Since the late 1970s and despite the overwhelming power of discourse about them, women's words were unrelenting and daring in their challenge."
She quotes a fatwa
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
(religious legal opinion) by Shaikh Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn Baaz
Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn Baaz
Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz , was a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar, considered as one of the renowned Sunni Muslim scholars of the twentieth century...
from 1978 summarizing the fundamentalist view of women, which the women writers have been trying to change. The opinion states: “Attacking men's guardianship of women is an objection to God and an attack on His Book and on His prudent law. This is great in deity (Kufr akbar) by the consensus of Islam's ulema
Ulema
Ulama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...
... It is absolutely necessary that the newspaper be publicly punished by stopping its publication. The woman who wrote and the editor in-chief must be tried and disciplined in a deterring manner."
Her book answers a question she raised: “How do women themselves use words as a means to counter the language of power, and aesthetics as a political strategy for revisions of concepts, ideas, and institutions that are used to control them?"
However, Arebi argues these writers do not necessarily conform to Western feminists’ ideas
Feminist theory
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, or philosophical discourse, it aims to understand the nature of gender inequality...
of resistance or their definitions of patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
. In another earlier work, Arebi made an important remark concerning Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
women:
Overview: Women and Words in Saudi Arabia
In Women & Words in Saudi Arabia: The Politics of Literary Discourse, Arebi employs the Foucauldian notion of discourse to analyze how Saudi women writers comprehend their position within larger contexts of power and perceive their work as creative or journalistic writers as a means of disturbing the "verbal machinery" in charge of theorizing women's roles and behavior. She details the various stylistic approaches adopted by Saudi women proseProse
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
writers seeking to establish a dialect between opposition to certain aspects of society and affirmation of major cultural values
Value (personal and cultural)
A personal or cultural value is an absolute or relative ethical value, the assumption of which can be the basis for ethical action. A value system is a set of consistent values and measures. A principle value is a foundation upon which other values and measures of integrity are based...
and institutions. Arebi argues that appreciation of these approaches is critical to understanding how Saudi female writers gain access to the field of cultural politics
Political culture
Political culture is the traditional orientation of the citizens of a nation toward politics, affecting their perceptions of political legitimacy.Conceptions...
and submit their own interpretations of Islam, gender relationships
Gender roles in Islam
In Islam, the sexes are considered equal before God in the complementarian sense. Allah says in verse 13 of chapter 49 in the Holy Qu'ran: "O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honourable of...
, and women's potential roles in society. She posits that:
Chapter 1 ("Women's Opportunities & the Social Organization of Writing") investigates literature’s social organization and the basis of women writers’ legitimacy and the structure of their opportunity to engage in literary activity. Chapter 2 (“History of the Present and the Presence of History: Traffic in Symbols, Knowledge, and Experience”) focuses on three writers. Poet Fowziyha Abu-Khalid, is interested in the relationship of literature and religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. She believes "that the right of discussion and of participation in discourse should be accorded to everybody." Change, she believes, depends on the masses, not intellectuals. Ruqayya Ash-Shabib, best known as a short story writer, focuses on ordinary women who profoundly changed history. Two examples are Sheherazade
Shéhérazade
Shéhérazade is the title of two works by the French composer Maurice Ravel.Shéhérazade, ouverture de féerie, written in 1898 but unpublished, is a work for orchestra intended as the overture for an opera of the same name...
and Balqees, the Queen of Sheba. She believes "that the problem is not male dominance, but rather female submission." Raja'a Alem
Raja'a Alem
Raja'a Alem is a Saudi Arabian novelist from Mecca/Hejaz.She received her BA in English Literature...
, a pioneering playwright, thinks literature’s primary function is "liberation of the individual."
Chapter 3 (“Victimization Literature: The Poetics of Justice & the Politics of Representation”) concentrates on three short story authors. Sharifa As-Shamlan "draws most of her stories from the real lives of women with whom she comes in contact as a social worker, especially those in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
." Khayriyya As-Saggaf explains she doesn't "write for someone who is in a hurry, who reads in a car, or who reads while busy doing something else." Najwa Hashim’s stories generally deal with women "who struggle with the discrepancy between the real and the ideal."
Chapter 4 (“Redefining the Issues: The Politics of Re-vision & the Production of Difference”) examines three of the most widely read female Saudi essayists. Juhayer Al-Musa'ed's skill revolves around her ability to ask the right questions without necessarily providing answers. Not especially popular with women readers, Juhayer is seen as "declaring her alliance with men, hence emphasizing the premises of the dominant discourse." Fatna Shaker believes the problem of how societies arrange themselves "can only be solved if understood in broader terms and explored in terms of structural causes." Sohaila Zain Al-Abedin is perceived "by other literary men and women as being in line with the dominant discourse."
Chapter 5 (“Literary Marginalization & the Privatization of the Public”) deals with the critical response to their writing in which a shift occurs from “the woman as private” yet a subject of public discourse to a situation in which the products of women’s minds that are made public are privatized. In the concluding chapter (“Conclusions and Implications”) Arebi theorizes the implications of the women writers’ role within their culture, and the cultural apparatus driving their discourse. She attempts to answer the question of whether we are justified in seeing their endeavor as a form of resistance, considering that they establish a dialectical relationship between opposition and affirmation of major cultural values and institutions.
In the Field: Interviews and Data Collection
After three years of attempts to obtain a visaVisa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
to conduct field research
Field research
Field research is the collection of raw data in natural settings. It helps to reveal the habits and habitats of various organisms present in their natural surroundings...
in Saudi Arabia, she was finally granted one for three months beginning in early March 1989. During those three years, in addition to fulfilling her teaching responsibilities, she immersed herself in reading and identifying most, if not all, Saudi women writers of consequence. Once in the field, most data was generated through personal interviews with current writers, as well as several women who had either written occasionally or discontinued their literary activities. The writers interviewed were also curious about Arebi personally:
Motivations
Arebi dedicated this work to her mother and father, Mohamed Al-Soghayyer Arebi, whose firm belief in AllahAllah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
ingrained in their family that it is through fairness, hard work, moderation, and tolerance that one can reach other truths and hence achieve a fuller humanity. She learned from them an important Islamic concept that “middleness” (wasaţ), being in the middle, even as a child, does not have to mean “between-ness,” being torn or on shaky ground, but can be a firm and advantageous position from which one can see both sides more clearly. Arebi explained that this positive image of wasaţ extended to her scholarly position between two discourses and two civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
s and symbolized her aim to bring these two worlds to a mutual understanding.
Lectures
Arebi was a popular lecturer at various conferences regarding Islam and women in the Arab WorldArab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
. On October 4, 1997, she participated in the 51st annual conference hosted by the Middle East Institute
Middle East Institute
The Middle East Institute is a non-partisan think tank and cultural center in Washington, DC. Founded in 1946, MEI is the oldest institution in Washington dedicated exclusively to the study of the Middle East. Its founder, architect and philanthropist George Camp Keiser, assembled a team of...
in Washington, DC, entitled “The Middle East into the Twenty-First Century.” The conference drew over 400 journalists, diplomats, business people, NGOs and academics. In the final panel, Arebi partnered with Fadhil Chalabi of the Center for Global Energy Studies, explaining how the changing dynamics of oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
exports will alter the economic and political situation in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
. She lectured at numerous events for Muslim Students Associations, such as one delivered in 1998 during Islam Awareness Week at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, entitled “Politics of misrepresentation; Women and power in Islamic societies.” On February 22, 2007, she presented a public lecture entitled “Discerning Islam: Access, Voice and Contexts of Interpretive Responsibility” for the Center for Islamic Studies of the Graduate Theological Union at UC Berkeley. In one of her final appearances, Arebi lectured on her experiences during Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
at an event hosted by the Muslim Student Alliance at Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
on March 1, 2007.
Literature
- Women and Words in Saudi Arabia: The Politics of Literary Discourse, Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
Press (May 1994) ISBN 0231084218 ISBN 978-0231084215 - "Gender Anthropology in the Middle East: The Politics of Muslim Women's Misrepresentation". American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (1991)
- "Waging War, Waging Peace: The Poetics and Politics of Women and Words in Contemporary Arabia". Thesis (Ph. D. in Anthropology)- University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, (May 1991). - "Powerful Mothers, Powerless Daughters: Libyan Women and the Bitter Fruits of Change." Unpublished paper, Department of Anthropology, U.C. Berkeley (1984)
- ”The Changing Role and Status of Women in Libyan Society An Anthropological Perspective”. Thesis (M.A. Anthropology) - California State University, SacramentoCalifornia State University, SacramentoCalifornia State University, Sacramento, popularly known as Sacramento State, is a public university located in the city of Sacramento, California. It is part of the California State University system...
(1983).
See also
- Culture of Saudi ArabiaCulture of Saudi ArabiaThe cultural setting of Saudi Arabia is Arab and Muslim, and features many elements from historical ritual and folk culture such as dance and music. Traditional values and cultural mores are adapted into legal prohibitions, even for non-Muslims. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited as is pork...
- List of Libyans
- List of Arab Americans
- Fadwa El GuindiFadwa El GuindiFadwa El Guindi is an Egyptian-born in 1941 professor of anthropology with a PhD in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin . At present she is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Qatar University in Doha, Qatar, as well as head of the department of social sciences.El Guindi...
- Rajaa al-SaneaRajaa al-SaneaRajaa al-Sanea is a Saudi writer who became famous through her novel Girls of Riyadh, or Banat al-Riyadh. The book was first published in Lebanon in 2005 and in English in 2007. The book was long-listed for the Dublin Literary Award in 2009...
- Raja'a AlemRaja'a AlemRaja'a Alem is a Saudi Arabian novelist from Mecca/Hejaz.She received her BA in English Literature...
- Girls of RiyadhGirls of RiyadhGirls of Riyadh, or Banat al-Riyadh, is a novel by Rajaa Alsanea. The book, written in the form of e-mails, recounts the personal lives of four young Saudi girls, Lamees, Michelle , Gamrah, and Sadeem.-Plot summary:...
- Gender roles in IslamGender roles in IslamIn Islam, the sexes are considered equal before God in the complementarian sense. Allah says in verse 13 of chapter 49 in the Holy Qu'ran: "O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honourable of...
- Islamic feminismIslamic feminismIslamic feminism is a form of feminism concerned with the role of women in Islam. It aims for the full equality of all Muslims, regardless of gender, in public and private life. Islamic feminists advocate women's rights, gender equality, and social justice grounded in an Islamic framework...
- Women and Islam