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Posted by Asra Noman on February 6, 2006, 4:45 pm The conference signaled a shift in Nomani's activism. From small-town But this movement will not follow in the footsteps of other feminist /Mother Jones/ talked to Nomani on a Friday, after she attended prayer *Mother Jones:* Tell me a little bit about the conference. What was the *Asra Nomani:* In the history of women's rights in America it was *MJ:* Who was there? What was discussed? *AN:* There were amazing activists and scholars from Indonesia to Mali, Raheel Raza, a native of Pakistan, spoke about her work fighting *MJ:* How did this congregation of women activists inspire you? *AN:* What I could feel during this conference was that we are on the Since then I've been working on trying to make that happen. It's not *MJ:* In what form do you envision the Islamic Dream coming together? *AN:* I know that this is the internet age and that's how we can connect *MJ:* Who are the main people you have in mind as contributors? *AN:* I've really been inspired by Khaled Abou El Fadl, a lawyer by *MJ:* You mention a lot of men in your list. Do you think men have a *AN:* It's true that in a lot of western feminist movements, you see
83.84.50.118
When Asra Nomani became the first woman in her mosque in West Virginia
to insist on her right to pray in the male-only main hall, she invited a
barrage of criticism from Islamic leaders. But her actions also got her
invited to the first International Congress on Islamic Feminism, held in
October 2005 in Barcelona.
marches in Morgantown, W.V., to a national campaign throughout the U.S.,
Nomani is now taking her place within the international movement for
Muslim women's rights. Having been raised in the U.S. she says, has
given her privileges of education and access to resources that she can
bring to a world-wide movement, but she's quick to point out that these
privileges do not set her apart from Muslim women in Africa and the
Middle East: "There are different degrees of threat, but the dynamic of
subordination that we face in our traditional communities is the same.
In Nigeria, women face physical stoning; here they face psychic shaming
and intimidation that can be just as brutal."
movements from history. Rooted in religion, the efforts of Islamic
feminists are focused on reclaiming sacred texts by means of a
progressive, contemporary interpretation that includes women's rights.
"Mohammed was a feminist," Nomani says. She intends to prove the point
through her newest project, the Islamic Dream, a web site devoted to
Koranic analysis and interpretations from the leading Islamic scholars
of the day, men and women, to create a go-to source for Muslims
grappling with contemporary issues. "I've gotten hundreds of emails from
people," - from a Muslim woman in the U.S. in love with a Christian man
to a man in Pakistan who is struggling with being gay - "asking what can
I do?"
service at her local mosque with two other non-Muslim American women.
Together, they stood shoulder to shoulder in the main hall, under the
disapproving gaze of the men. In this interview Nomani reports back on
the conference and explains the role American progressives of all faiths
must play in the struggle for Muslim women's rights. "The progressive
movements in America are completely in sync with the progressive
theology of Islam," she says. "We need to mature and the larger American
progressive community needs to mature with us."
motivation behind it?
comparable to the Seneca Falls conference, which was a landmark for
establishing women's rights in the U.S. One big difference was that at
the Seneca Falls conference, the women of America told the men that they
could attend but had to remain silent. But this conference was organized
and spearheaded by Muslim men who believe that Islam is being
misrepresented when women don't get their full rights in the world. It
was so exciting to [be] at a place where we actually acknowledge this
concept of Islamic feminism, because right now it's still this taboo
topic. People don't want to acknowledge it as a legitimate concept.
women that I'd heard about for years but hadn't met face to face. When
we came together, we embraced each other because we're all good friends
who are very much alone all the time in our communities, but very like
minded. This was a crowd where we very clearly saw that much of what is
put out in the world in the name of Islam is interpretation, not God's
law. It's not divinely ordained, but really the creation of men. This is
something we're still putting out there in our communities that isn't
widely accepted. Islam is still considered by many people, including
Muslims, to be monolithic. We're challenging the many interpretations
that create this monolithic entity.
religious arbitration courts in Canada that impose the /sharia/, Islamic
law, on communities. She was very clear that she is not against the
/sharia/, but she's against the /interpretations/ of the /sharia/ that,
most of the time, demean women. A woman from Senegal talked about having
been in a marriage that was polygamous and suffered greatly from it. A
woman from Malaysia talked about the work they're doing on the ground
refuting the theology and interpretations that allow polygamy. A woman
from Mali talked about the work her organization does through a radio
program educating women about their right not to have their clitorises
cut off, the surgery that is imposed upon them in the name of Islam. An
inspiring woman from Nigeria talked about the work that her
organization, BAOBAB, does to get the imams, the prayer leaders of
mosques, to open their minds to the concept of different interpretations.
verge of a really great opportunity to bring all this really great work
together and create a new approach for Islam in the world. Because women
and men in communities all over the world right now are challenging
interpretations. Now it's time for us to bring it together so nobody has
to start from scratch in any community. So what I introduced in my
presentation was this concept that I called the Islamic Dream, where we
would have a project to bring together all of these interpretations of
Islamic law that are progressive and women friendly, and give people an
alternative to the type of Islam that's being practiced in the world in
many of our communities.
like my activism before where if I just did it, it was a victory in
overcoming my own fears and challenging the status quo. In order for us
to really succeed in putting a new approach out there, we need to make
it viable. So I've been getting a lot of advice from scholars and
organizational folks in putting something like this out there. I'm
hoping that over the next six months I can come up with a plan to get
thinkers and scholars together under this very simple concept of
/tawheed/, which is the fundamental principle in Islam of oneness.
/Tawheed/ is vital in ensuring that people are equal in this world and
one person isn't more privileged than the other. This is such an
important and missing concept in a lot of our Muslim society where
people denigrate women or denigrate people of other religions. Enough is
enough with all of that.
across this divide of loneliness that separates us. I got a letter from
a woman who's in love with a Christian man and she asks me, "Can I marry
him?" I want to be able to refer people to a place where they can see
clearly what the scholars say on this, in an interpretation that allows
for plurality and progressive thought. In this instance we can bring
together the many scholars that accept a Muslim woman marrying a
Christian man without his conversion. This is still taboo in our
community and there are so few resources available on the point. Or I
get a letter from a gay man in Pakistan who says, "Can I be gay, or do I
have to change?" And I could actually give him the resource and the
interpretation that allow him to accept himself. That's what I'm
envisioning.
training. He is one of the few scholars brave enough to come right out
and acknowledge women's rights to be imams, to both women and men. Reza
Aslan, an Iranian immigrant who's written a book called /No god but
God/. He says very clearly that women are not obligated to cover their
hair with a scarf, which is considered part of the Islamic code
according to so many people. And he takes a brave stand in accepting
homosexuality. Dr. Amina Wadud, the woman who lead the prayer in New
York and Asma Barlas, another professor. They both have done these great
readings of the Koran. Omid Safi, he has written a book on progressive
Islam. In Malaysia, Zaina Anwar from Sisters in Islam. They've already
challenged so much of the family law that denies women's rights. Kecia
Ali, she's done really important work on sexuality issues in Islam.
There's a lot of really great work out there by great scholars of the
day who are doing their piece of the pie. Now is the time to bring the
pie together so that everybody can share it.
particular role in Islamic feminism that is different from the role men
have played in other feminist movements?
women working singularly from men. Suffragettes and the women's rights
movement in the 60s here, but when I think of the Islamic feminist
movement, I think of a lot of men who are very much standing with the
women. It really feels like in equal numbers. Women are catching up in
the field because we were not given access to knowledge and encouraged
into these studies and so these men are helping us and empowering us.
They are men of conscience who are fed up with this assumption that
they're [entitled].
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