Western Women and Islam: Embracing and Negotiating Muslim Identity

Rahat Raja, null

doi:10.13169/polipers.11.1.0003

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Policy Perspectives: The Journal of the Institute of Policy Studies

Volume 11, Issue 1

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Western Women and Islam: Embracing and Negotiating Muslim Identity

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Author(s): Rahat Raja

Publication date (Print): 2014

Journal: Policy Perspectives: The Journal of the Institute of Policy Studies

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

Today, women-related questions are considered to be one of the most controversial questions regarding Islam in Europe. The resurgent interest in Women, as well as the gender questions emanating, and spreading from the West is due to an increasing, more assertive and visible Muslim population, and the ensuing issues focusing on women such as the hijaab and niqaab (veil). As a corollary to this, gender issues are central in the discussions of conversion to Islam, whereby female conversion to Islam has become a focal point of Western efforts to understand Islam. This paper aims to provide an overall analysis of the phenomenon of the appeal, and embracing of Islam by Western women in the context of how they view the status given to them by Western society, the pull and push factors; their attempt to create a niche of identity, dignity and equity for Muslim women both within the discourse among Muslims on the role of women in Islam, as well as a space within the overall narrative of ‘Islam in the West;’ all of this being despite the polemics centering on the rights of women where the portrayal of Islam is that of a patriarchal, sexist religion that subjugates and demeans women.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): polipers

Title: Policy Perspectives: The Journal of the Institute of Policy Studies

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 18121829

ISSN (Electronic): 18127347

Publication date (Print): 2014

Volume: 11

Issue: 1

Pages: 3-31

Affiliations

Ms. Rahat Raja is an IPS associate. The editors are thankful to Obaid-ur-Rahman, research associate at IPS, for assistance in finalization of this article.

Article

Publisher ID: polipers.11.1.0003

DOI: 10.13169/polipers.11.1.0003

SO-VID: 049e624a-5cb0-46c9-ad55-50f4b079b62b

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Education,Religious studies & Theology,Social & Behavioral Sciences,Law,Economics

References

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Allievi, Stefano (a). “Converts and the making of European Islam.” ISIM Newsletter 11 (2002).
Allievi, Stefano (a). “The Shifting Significance of the Halal/Haram Frontier Narratives on the Hijab and Other Issues” in Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West . Edited by Karin van Nieuwkerk. University of Texas Press, 2006.
Almessiri, Abdel Wahab M. Feminism Versus Women's Liberation Movements . Annandale, VA: United Association for Studies and Research, 2004.
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Abd Al 'Ati, Hammudah. The Family Structure in Islam . American Trust Publications, 1977.

[2] Abul Fadl, Mona. Understanding Gender in Muslim Societies . Paper presented at a workshop in Washington D.C. in 1991. http://muslimwomenstudies.com/Gender1.htm.

[3] Allievi, Stefano (a). “Converts and the making of European Islam.” ISIM Newsletter 11 (2002).

[4] Allievi, Stefano (a). “The Shifting Significance of the Halal/Haram Frontier Narratives on the Hijab and Other Issues” in Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West . Edited by Karin van Nieuwkerk. University of Texas Press, 2006.

[5] Almessiri, Abdel Wahab M. Feminism Versus Women's Liberation Movements . Annandale, VA: United Association for Studies and Research, 2004.

[6] Anway, Carol L. Daughters of another Path: Experiences of American Women Choosing Islam . Yawna Publications, 1996.

[7] Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity . California: Stanford University Press, 2003.

[8] Asmai, Sarwat Jamal. Asmai, “Aurat, Maghrib Aur Islam.” Maghrib Aur Islam . Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad (2012).

[9] Badawi, Jamal., Gender Equity in Islam: Basic Principles . American Trust Publications, 1995.

[10] Badran, Margot. “Islamic Feminism Revisited.” Countercurrents.org. February 10, 2006. http://www.countercurrents.org/gen-badran100206.htm (accessed December 17, 2013).

[11] Barazangi, Nimat Hafez. “Muslim Women's Islamic Higher Learning as a Human Right: The Action Plan”, in Muslim Women and the Politics of Participation, 44.

[12] Barlas, Asma. “Believing Women” in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an . Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002.

[13] Bourque, Nicole. “How Deborah Became Aisha: The Conversion Process and the Creation of Female Muslim Identity” in Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West . Edited by Karin van Nieuwkerk. University of Texas Press, 2006.

[14] Dumont, Louis. Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and its Implications . University of Chicago Press, 1980.

[15] Grall, Timothy S. “Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2007.” Current Population Reports, U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau . (November 2009). http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p60-237.pdf (accessed AprilDecember 20, 2013).

[16] Haddad, Yvonne. The Study of Women in Islam and the West: A Select Bibliography . Georgetown University, Washington DC, 2005.

[17] Haddad, Yvonne. “The Quest for Peace in Submission, Reflections on the Journey of American Women Converts to Islam; in Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West . Edited by Karin van Nieuwkerk, University of Texas Press, 2006.

[18] Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck, Jane I. Smith, and Kathleen M. Moore. Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today . New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

[19] Hofmann, Gabriele. Muslimin werden. Frauen in Deutschland Konvertieren zum Islam . Frankfurt: Universität Frankfurt, 1997.

[20] Honegger, Claudia. The Order of the Sexes . Frankfurt, 1991.

[21] Klinger, Cornelia and Herta Nagl-Docekal (eds.). Continental Philosophy in Feminist Perspective: Re-Reading the Canon in German . The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000.

[22] Larsen, Lena. Islam in Europe: Mainstream Society as the Provider of Conditions . University of Oslo. https://www.uio.no/english/research/interfaculty-research-areas/culcom/news/2006/larsen.html (accessed December 12, 2013).

[23] Miller, Kathleen A. Portuán. “The Other Side of the Coin: A Look at Islamic Law As Compared to Anglo American Law—Do Muslim Women Really Have Fewer Rights Than American Women?” New York International Law Review 16, no. 2 (Summer 2003).

[24] Moir, Anne and David Jessel. Brain Sex: The Real Difference Between Men and Women . New York: Laurel Trade Paperback, 1991.

[25] Nieuwkerk, Karin van (ed.). Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West . University of Texas Press, 2006.

[26] Nieuwkerk, Karin van (ed.). “Gender and Conversion to Islam in the West” in Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West , Edited by Karin van Nieuwkerk, University of Texas Press, 2006.

[27] Rambo, Lewis Ray. Understanding Religious Conversion . Yale University Press, 1995.

[28] Ridley, Yvonne. “How I came to love the veil.” Yvonne Ridley website . http://yvonneridley.org/analysis-and-opinion/how-i-came-to-love-the-veil (accessed JanuaryApril 20, 2014).

[29] Roald, Anne Sofie. “The Shaping of a Scandinavian “Islam”: Converts and Gender Equal Opportunity” in Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the WestI . Edited by Karin van Nieuwkerk. University of Texas Press, 2006.

[30] Roald, Anne Sofie. New Muslims in the European Context: The Experience of Scandinavian Converts . Koninklijke, Brill, NV, Lieden, the Netherlands, 2004.

[31] Roald, Anne Sofie. Women in Islam: The Western Experience . London:Routledge, 2001.

[32] Siddiqi, Muhammad Zubayr. Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development, & Special Features . The Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge, 1993.

[33] Sjöqvist, Madeleine Sultán. “Women's Conversions to Islam: Equality and Obedience.” NIKK Magasin 2, 2007.

[34] United Nations Human Rights. “Violence against Women; Its causes, Consequences, and Effects.” UNOHCHR . (October 2011).

[35] Wohlrab-Sahr, Monika. “Symbolizing Distance: Conversion to Islam in Germany and the United States.” in Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West . Edited by Karin van Nieuwkerk. University of Texas Press, 2006.

[36] Wohlrab-Sahr, Monika. “Conversion to Islam: Between Syncretism and Symbolic Battle.” Social Compass 46, no. 3 (1999).