3. Aspects of Old and New Approaches to Feminism in Islam: A Focus on the Middle East

Subjugated Voices and Religion - Souad T. Ali

Souad T. Ali [+-]
Arizona State University
Professor Souad T. Ali is head of Classics and Middle Eastern studies, founding chair of the Arizona State University Council for Arabic and Islamic Studies; coordinator of Arabic Studies; associate professor of Arabic literature and Middle Eastern/Islamic studies in the School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC). She is simultaneously an affiliate graduate faculty member in English, women and gender studies, religious studies, and justice and social inquiry; as well as an affiliate faculty member in the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, African and African-American studies, Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, Institute for Humanities Research, and Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. A scholar with international recognition, Professor Ali is a recipient of several awards including, the ASU Faculty Women’s Association Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award (2017); the ASU Outstanding Advisor of the Year (2019), among others. A Fulbright Scholar, Professor Ali is the author of A Religion, Not A State: Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq’s Islamic Justification of Political Secularism (University of Utah Press 2009), The Road to Two Sudans, an edited volume of which she is the lead editor, has been published internationally by Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2014). Ali’s third book is Perspectives of Five Kuwaiti Women in Leadership Roles: Feminism, Islam and Politics (CSP, 2019). Professor Ali’s impressive scholarship also includes over 30 scholarly articles in several languages, and more than 100 scholarly conference presentations. With degrees from prestigious institutions such as the University of Utah and Brigham Young University, as well as the University of Khartoum and the Polytechnic of North London, Professor Ali brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her work. She has held several key leadership roles, including serving as the past president of the American Academy of Religion/Western Region (AAR/WR), president of the Sudan(s) Studies Association of North America, and executive committee member of the International Association of Intercultural Studies (IAIS) in Cairo, Egypt and Bremen, Germany.

Description

Souad T. Ali’s “Aspects of Old and New Approaches to Feminism in Islam: A Focus on the Middle East” identifies and discusses what she posits as three significant approaches to feminism within Middle Eastern societies with a particular focus on Egypt. There have been several reactions to feminism in the region. Some argue that feminism in Egypt emerged as a response to the British occupation in 1882 and feminist movements in the country date back to the 1890s, thus establishing feminism as a traditionally Arab concept. Others argue that the word feminism should not be used at all. Similarly, women differ in how they view the Arab world’s interaction with “Western” feminism. These arguments have evolved throughout time, leading to three major groups of feminist thought in the Middle East: Islamic feminism, secular feminism, and Islamist feminism. One common theme found throughout the groups is that female subjugation is not inherent in the Qur’an. That being said, each group differs on where they believe patriarchal tendencies come from. This chapter examines each argument and discusses the merits and criticisms relating to each school of thought, effectively analyzing old and new approaches to feminist issues in Egypt within the context of the Middle East.

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Citation

Ali, Souad T.. 3. Aspects of Old and New Approaches to Feminism in Islam: A Focus on the Middle East. Subjugated Voices and Religion. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. Sep 2025. ISBN 9781800506725. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=46622. Date accessed: 13 Dec 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.46622. Sep 2025

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