Between Feminism and Islam: Human Rights and Sharia Law in Morocco

by Zakia Salime

There are two major women’s movements in the Islamists who hold shari’a as the platform for building a culture of women’s rights, and the feminists who use the United Nations’ framework to amend shari’a law. Between Feminism and Islam shows how the interactions of these movements over the past two decades have transformed the debates, the organization, and the strategies of each other. In Between Feminism and Islam , Zakia Salime looks at three key movement the 1992 feminist One Million Signature Campaign, the 2000 Islamist mass rally opposing the reform of family law, and the 2003 Casablanca attacks by a group of Islamist radicals. At the core of these moments are disputes over legitimacy, national identity, gender representations, and political negotiations for shaping state gender policies. Located at the intersection of feminism and Islam, these conflicts have led to the Islamization of feminists on the one hand and the feminization of Islamists on the other. Documenting the synergistic relationship between these movements, Salime reveals how the boundaries of feminism and Islamism have been radically reconfigured. She offers a new conceptual framework for studying social movements, one that allows us to understand how Islamic feminism is influencing global debates on human rights.

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Jared Palencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to read for my college course, very insightful and provides crucial and in-depth knowledge with regards to feminism, Islam, feminist/secular political activism and Islamist activism, engaging the state and the state's role in gender policy with respect to the Moroccan context. Western and liberal feminists should definitely pick this up and read it in understanding that Western-led feminism activism and discourse is wholly incompatible with the material realities on the ground particularly in Morocco and MENA as a whole.