Islamic Feminism in India: Indian Muslim Women Activists and the Reform of Muslim Personal Law

Abstract

I describe here a nascent 'Islamic feminist' movement in India, dedicated to the goal of achieving gender equity under Muslim Personal Law. In justifying their demands, these women activists refer neither to the Indian Constitution nor to the universalistic human rights principles that guide secular feminists campaigning for passage of a gender-neutral uniform civil code of personal law, but rather to the authority of the Qur'an-which, they claim, grants Muslim women numerous rights that in practice are routinely denied them. They accuse the male 'ulama of foisting 'patriarchal' interpretations of the Qur'an on the unlettered Muslim 1 I thank Filippo and Caroline Osella for giving me a reason to think more seriously and systematically about the movement I discuss here and for their careful reading and critiques of earlier drafts. Geraldine Forbes, Karen Leonard and Andrea Rugh have also provided valuable input. I am especially grateful to Yoginder Sikand for initially calling my attention to the phenomenon of Muslim women's rights activism in India. I am indebted to the following women who, at various times between 1998 and 2006, kindly made time in their busy schedules to allow me to observe their ongoing activities, talk about their ideas, their goals, their past and current activities and their future plans:

Debating Shirk in Keralam, South India: Monotheism between Tradition, Text and Performance

“…Embracing a performative theological understanding opens up even more radical possibilities for interpretation and practice than does the by-now very well-rehearsed argument that greater exposure and Islamic knowledge democratises processes of ijtihad (e.g. Huq, 2008;Mirza, 2008;Vatuk, 2013). Crucially, the performative turn disempowers religious specialists by placing them within the same space in relation to critique as nonspecialists, and insists that all critique and commentary is inevitably immanent.…”

“…(Stone, 2008: 6) Those who are picking up performativity -be that in mainstream or in feminist, queer and other dissident theological circles -point out that, "Textual meaning is inseparable from hermenutics and interpretive rhetoric, which take place in specific contexts and under the influence of traditions and interpretive communities religious and scholarly" (Stone, 2008: 2 (Soroush, 2000;Arkoun, 2003). There is a gathering wave of female scholars working through processes of ijtihad to challenge hegemonic and customary practice which claim Islamic theological grounding (Barlas, 2002;Wudud, 1999;Vatuk, 2013 also structure and produce religious subjectivities in people, then firstly, there can never be a possibility of reaching a pure, authentic interpretation, and, secondly, all people whose religious subjectivities are produced through engagement and inter action with 'Quran' and 'Islam' are part of the process of producing 'Quran' and 'Islam.' New performative critics go much further, in seeking to lay bare the politics by which texts have been interpreted in certain directions and in refusing any notion at all of any possible authenticity, guarantee by way of a revelation of authorial intention or, sometimes, limits to potential future interpretive moves.…”

Self-Determination and Women's Rights in Muslim Societies

“…Against this background, the demand for change had to come from within and be firmly grounded in the scripture and tradition. In fact, this is what Muslim women's organizations, like the aimwplb, did throughout the 1990s and 2000s (Vatuk 2008).…”

The “women's court” in India: an alternative dispute resolution body for women in distress

“…2. Publications resulting from this research include Vatuk 2001Vatuk , 2003Vatuk and 2013. My research was funded by a variety of sources, including a Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Fellowship, Senior Fellowships from the American Institute of Indian Studies and travel grants and research leaves from the University of Illinois at Chicago.…”