Women’s ijtihad as a Strategy for Liberation
Emancipatory Interpretations within the Women’s Section of the al Adl wal Ihsane (The Justice and Spirituality) Movement in Morocco
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/cis.34865Keywords:
Female ijtihād, Al Adl Wal Ihsane, Nadia Yassine, Morocco, Muslim womenAbstract
This article aims to explore some strategies of Islamist women by analyzing feminine ijtihad as a practice among a group of women who call themselves ‘Sisters for Eternity’. These women were a part of the women’s section of Al Adl Wal Ihssane (AWI), a Moroccan Islamist movement. These women conceive that an emancipation of women based on Islamic sources is possible and they therefore conduct a project of reinterpretation and contextualisation of the sacred texts. This article will describe the aforementioned project, its foundations, and offer concrete examples and results of this effort at ijtihad. The article will conclude with remarks regarding the possible influence of such a project on the emancipation of women.
References
Abdellatif, Omayma and Marina, Ottaway. 2007.“Women in Islamist Movements: Toward an Islamist Model of Women’s Activism.” Carnegie Papers 2: 1–13.
Abou-Bakr, Omaima. 2001.“Islamic Feminism: What Is in a Name?” Middle East Women’s Studies Review 15(4):1–4.
———. 1999. Gender perspectives in Islamic Tradition. (June). http://www.minaret.org/gender.htm
Adelkhah, Fariba. 1991. La révolution sous le voile: Femmes islamiques d’Iran. Paris: Karthala. https://doi.org/10.3917/kart.abdel.1991.01
Badran, Margot. 2009. Feminism in Islam: Secular and Religious Convergences. Oxford: Oneworld.
Benradi, Malika. 2006. “Dynamique sociale et évolution des statuts des femmes au Maroc.” Décembre. Prospectives “Maroc 2030.” Haut Commissariat du Plan. http://docexpo.hcp.ma/docs/138/prospective-maroc-2030-dynamique-sociale-et-evolution-des-statuts-des-femmes-au-maroc-2.pdf
Berger, Peter. 1967. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Berger, Peter L. and Samuel P. Huntington. 2003. Many Globalizations: Cultural Diversity in the Contemporary World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/0195151461.001.0001
Burgat, François. 1995. L’islamisme au Maghreb: la voix du Sud. Paris: Payot.
Eddouada Souad and Pepicelli Renata. 2010. “Morocco: Towards an “Islamic State Feminism.” Critique internationale 46(1), 87–100. https://doi.org/10.3917/crii.046.0087
Enzo, Pace and Acquaviva Sabino. 1994. La sociologie des religions: problèmes et perspectives. Traduit de l’italien par Patrick Michel. Paris: CERF.
Ezzat, Heba Raouf. 2001. “The silent Ayesha: An Egyptian narrative.” In Globalisation, Gender andReligion: The Politics of Women’s Rights in Catholic and Muslim contexts, edited by Jane H. Bayes and Nayera Tohidi, 231–257. New York: Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-04378-8_10
———. 2007. “Women and the interpretation of Islamic sources,” http://www.sistersinislam.org.my/comment.php?comment.news.1034
Göle, Nilufer. 1998. “Islamisme et Féminisme en Turquie.” Confluences Méditerranée 27: 87–93. Paris: l’Harmattan.
Hajjami, Aicha. 2004. “L’ijtihad et ses Potentialités d’Innovation.” In Les femmes entre violences et Stratégies de Liberté Maghreb et Europe du Sud, 81–88. Actes du colloque international organisé à Paris sur la question du “sujet féminin” entre incertitudes, violences etstratégies libérales. Mars 2003. Saint Denis: Bouchene.
Hatem, Mervat F. 1994. “Egyptian discourses on gender and political liberalization: do secularist and islamist views really differ?” Middle East Journal 48(4): 661–676.
Karam, Azza. 1998. Women, Islamism, and the State. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Mahmood, Saba. 2009. Politique de la piété: le féminisme à l’épreuve du renouveau islamique. Paris: La Découverte.
Latte Abdellah, Stéphanie. 2010. “Engagements islamiques en Jordanie. La part du politique, la part féministe,” Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée 128: 183–208. https://doi.org/10.4000/remmm.6908
Mir-Hosseini, Ziba; Mulki al-Sharmani, and Jana Rumminger, eds. 2014. Men in Charge? Rethinking Authority in Muslim Legal Tradition. Oxford: Oneworld.
Mouaqit, Mohammed. 2009. L’idéal égalitaire féminin à l’œuvre au Maroc: féminisme islam(isme). Paris: l’Harmattan.
Pruzan-Jørgensen, Julie E. 2009 “Liberalizing Autocracy at Work, Intra-oppositional Dynamics and Regime Legitimation during the Moroccan Moudawana Reform Process,” Unpublished PhD Thesis, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen.
Ramadan, Tariq. 2005. “Mujtahid.” Glossaires et Lexiques. https://tariqramadan.com/glossaire-lexiques/
Roy, Olivier. 2002. L’Islam mondialisé. Paris: Seuil. https://doi.org/10.14375/NP.9782020538343
Roded Ruth. 2015. “Moroccan Islamist Nadia Yassine imagines the Life of the Prophet.” Hadith and Sira Studies 1(1): 100–122.
Salime, Zakia. 2005. Between Islam and Feminism: New Political Transformations and Movements in Morocco. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
———. 2011. Between Feminism and Islam: Human Rights and Sharia Law in Morocco. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
———. 2016. “Embedded counterpublics: Women and Islamic revival in Morocco.” Frontiers 37(3): 47–73.
Sonbol, E. Amira. 2001. “Rethinking women and Islam.” In Daughters of Abraham: Feminist Thought in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, edited by Yvonne Y. Haddad and John Esposito, 108–147. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
Tozy, Mohammed. 1999. Monarchie et islam politique au Maroc. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po.
Wadud, Amina. 1992. Quran and Woman. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd.
Willaime, Jean Paul. 1995. Sociologie des Religions. Que sais-je? Paris: Presses universitaires deFrance.
Weber, Max. 1967. L’éthique protestante et l’esprit du capitalisme. Paris: Plon.
Yafout, Merieme. 2012. “Le statut des femmes au sein des mouvements islamistes au Maroc: Entre exégèse au féminin et participation politique (le cas des femmes appartenant à AWI et au MUR/PJD).” Unpublished PhD thesis, Université Hassan II: Casablanca.
———. 2017. “Les activités d’Adl Wal Ihsane dans les quartiers. Comment construire un consensus ‘non légal’ à partir d’un conflit ‘toléré’.” International Development Policy / Revue internationale de politique de développement. https://journals.openedition.org/poldev/2450?lang=es
Yassine, Abdessalam. 1996. Tanwir al-Mu'minat Vol I, II. Casablanca: Al Ofok.
———. 1998. Islamiser la modernité. Casablanca: Al Ofok.
Yassine, Nadia. 2003. Toutes voiles dehors. Casablanca: Le Fennec.
Zeghal, Malika. 2005. Les islamistes Marocains: Le défi à la monarchie. Casablanca: Le Fennec.
