Farewell to the Harem

How do Muslim women see themselves? How do they assess the position of women in Islamic society? An anthology edited by the Egyptian Islam scholar Houda Youssef, in which primarily Muslim women have an opportunity to speak, provides some answers. Fahimeh Farsaie introduces the book

​​"Why is it that when the subject of Muslim women and sexuality is brought up even I immediately have to think of veils, polygamy, female circumcision - and belly dancing?" writes Houda Youssef, Egyptian Islam scholar and staff member at the Goethe Institute in Cairo, in the preface of her anthology Farewell to the Harem? Self-Perceptions – Others' Perceptions of Muslim Women.

Her book is not about polygamy, veiling, stoning, or similar topics with which Muslim women are commonly associated in the media, however. Youssef's anthology instead depicts the world view and self-image of Eastern women from the perspective of those who are affected, since nearly all of the contributions in the book were written by authors who live in countries influenced by Islam or who are socialized as Muslims.

Women such as Leila Ahmed, for example, who teaches religion at Harvard, Azza Karam, the director of the women's program "World Council for Religion und Peace" in New York, the professor Mona Fayad, who teaches at several American universities, and authors Nawal El-Saadawi and Fatima Mernissi, who are well known in Europe.

A different point of view

The fact that the topic "sexuality and Muslim women" is always the subject of controversial discussion in anthologies such as Farewell to the Harem? is nothing new. What is new, however, is that this issue is treated from a point of view which deviates from the "norm."

Leila Ahmed, for instance, contends that "the voice, the experience, and the outlook of women" with respect to the perception of their bodies were incorporated in Islamic texts, particularly the hadiths (collections of recorded sayings, deeds, or traditions of the prophet Muhammad), that in medieval Islam abortion was allowed until the end of the fourth month, and that women were permitted to use contraceptives during this period.

She concludes that Islamic notions of female physicality were "complex and positive" and that women could enjoy their "active sexuality" to the full.

Nawal El-Saadawi, representing several female Arab researchers, vehemently refutes this theory. In her book "Chador", she describes the attitudes shaped by Islamic culture as "negative and critical." Fatima Mernissi also supports this view: "The message of Islam is based on the assumption that humanity is made up of only men. Women are outside of the human race and are even a threat to it."

Of course, both interpretations can be documented in Islamic texts and traditions. What makes Ahmed's abstract line of reasoning seem less plausible, however, is the express goal of such interpretations in hadiths, for example, that "women have a right to full sexual satisfaction in marriage."

Fear of chaos

The goal was to dominate and oppress women for the benefit of men and the patriarchal order. As the most frequently quoted Islamic legal scholar, Imam al-Ghazali (1050-1111), explained, there is a direct connection between maintaining the social order and protecting female virtue, which, in turn, is dependent on the woman's sexual satisfaction.

"Social order is secured when the woman limits herself to her husband and does not create fitna, or chaos, by enticing other men to illicit sexual intercourse." And nothing is more feared in Islam than fitna.

Despite the differing views of the various authors on such issues, there is nevertheless much common ground, according to sociologist Irmgard Pinn: "The Islamic movements have many things in common with civil rights, women's, environmental, and ethnic movements."

In summary, a book worth reading, which provides many new points of departure for controversial discussion.

Fahimeh Farsaie

© Qantara.de 2005

Translation from German: Phyllis Anderson

Houda Youssef (ed.), Abschied vom Harem? Selbstbilder - Fremdbilder muslimischer Frauen, ORLANDA Frauenverlag (published only in Germany so far)

Qantara.de

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