Are Islam and feminism compatible? The question, borrowed from a documentary watched during quarantine, is beside the point: nobody ever asks whether Judaism or Christianity is compatible with feminism, when the condition of women depends, as everywhere in the world, first and foremost on political will and on a more or less egalitarian vision of society, not on religion itself. There are in fact Islamic feminisms, plural, particular to each society, in which feminist thought comes up against local conservatism and the local patriarchal model.
Are Islam and feminism compatible? During our long quarantine, a European friend was kind enough to pass on the title of a documentary, telling me this: “that programme made me think of you. It might interest you.” While appreciating the attention and the good intention, I found myself wondering about the relevance of the question. My scepticism grew after I watched the documentary in question, and my confusion was all the greater for it: “Are Islam and feminism compatible?” At no point did the documentary seem willing to answer the question set out in its title. Was the subject too ambitious for the format the editorial team had chosen?
The Complexity of a Comparison
The documentary consisted of a series of testimonies gathered from different women, from different regions. Mostly from Arab women, the testimonies concerned personal experiences that did not come anywhere near universal experience. To speak of Islam or of feminism struck me as presumptuous and pretentious with such an approach and in such conditions.
Islam and Feminism: A Widespread Prejudice
The chosen title sums up, all on its own, a very widespread mental construct. Let me explain. Has anyone ever seen, read or heard, in the past 10 or 20 years, anything resembling: “Are Judaism and feminism compatible?” or indeed “Are Christianity and feminism compatible?” Clearly, this has nothing to do with the nature of the sacred texts of these two monotheistic religions, nor with the living conditions of women of Christian or Jewish faith. Living conditions that vary from one continent to another.
Read also: Feminist Movements: A Journey Through Time
The Quintessence of Prejudice
And yet turning the “Muslim world” into a homogeneous entity, and Muslim women into creatures with a single status, bothers no one unduly. That, however, is the very quintessence of prejudice about Islam and of received ideas about Muslim women.
Politics, Society and Religion
As everywhere in the world, the condition of women depends first and foremost on political will and on a certain more or less egalitarian vision of society. Religion is merely one more pretext, serving essentially as an argument from authority for those who lack arguments and who lack a healthy authority, one that would stop them from sliding into authoritarianism.
Islamic Feminisms, Plural Movements
Would it not have been better to ask, more simply, whether an Islamic feminism exists? The answer to that last question is not only yes — it is also more interesting than one might think. We should not speak of an Islamic feminism, as though it took a single form, but of Islamic feminisms, plural, endogenous to each society, in which feminist thought comes up against conservative thought and against the patriarchal model particular to each country.
Conclusion: Beyond Compatibility
So are Islam and feminism compatible? The question is beside the point. Let us ask ourselves instead about the conservatism of our politicians and about the conformist pressures of our societies.
