Why Islam and Feminism will never be compatible

As a former Muslim and a feminist, the greatest issue I have with modern feminism is it's ineffectiveness caused by an insistence on political correctness. An example is the ongoing controversy surrounding "white feminism", an abusive term used against white Western women by a minority of women of color.1

If there is in fact such a thing as "white feminism",  its defining characteristic is not the exclusion of WOC, but rather the idea that white women internalize of having no right to speak out against injustice when they see it, out of fear of being perceived as racist or culturally insensitive.

It's interesting to note that most of the open critics of Islam from white backgrounds are not women, but rather men. This is important, because Islam as a political system is very patriarchal in nature compared to Western liberal democracy. And yet, many white men feel comfortable speaking out against these issues while Western feminists are afraid of addressing them.

The main explanation I see for this is internalization of a patriarchal gender role. Under patriarchy, men are the link between different groups, while women are forced to watch on the sidelines. Wars are declared and ended by men, while women are exchanged as goods by tribal elders to foment relationships between clans.

An example is the ongoing issue of female circumcision in many Islamic nations. In an effort to discover the effect political correctness has on hampering the fight against female circumcision Leyla Hussein, a woman who was circumcised herself as a child, asked people to sign a petition in favor of circumcision.2 Within half an hour, nineteen people had signed the petition. What is perplexing is that many of these signatories were women themselves!

Political correctness and cultural relativism increasingly have the effect of reversing progress booked in the emancipation of women. In an effort to avoid appearing culturally insensitive or even "racist", white women, many of whom genuinely see themselves as feminists, accept being dictated by men on what to wear, who to talk to and who to shake hands with.

The success of feminism in the Western world means that white women today enjoy a position of power when compared to their sisters in the Islamic world. Had our roles been reversed and had religious influences kept Western women in Europe and North America from enjoying the basic rights universal to all humans, I would expect Western women to call on emancipated women in other countries to stand up for their rights.

As a woman of Islamic background I understand that we can not accomplish the immense task ahead of us by ourselves. Women in Iran are assaulted and arrested on the street for wearing their headscarf in a wrong manner and our political representation is limited. Considering that patriarchy has been the norm for most of recorded history, we have no guarantee that activism by women in Islamic countries alone will be enough to overthrow patriarchy.

The success that women in the Western world have had in the 20th century is sadly an exception to the rule. Previous societies where women were treated on equal footing with men, such as Cathar society in Southern France, were violently suppressed and live on only in our history books.

As women of Islamic background we are all too familiar with our own examples of historical societies where women lived in freedom and in control over their own lives before the religion of Islam spread and imposed a patriarchal theocratic system. I will outline some of these examples below and make clear why I hope that Islam will one day only be found in our history books.

Muhammed had a particular hatred of female leaders, as becomes clear through the story of Umm Qirfa. In Muhammed's time, Umm Qirfa was a powerful woman who ruled over the Banu Fazara. After overpowering the Banu Fazare, the Hadith mentions that Muhammed ordered her to be tied to two camels and torn in two. Her head was then put on a stick on the orders of Muhammed and paraded around Medina.3

It's rarely mentioned that Islam does not allow women to rule. Whereas Medieval Europe and India have seen plenty of female rulers, Islam explicitly forbids women from ruling over men as mentioned in Sahih Bukhari.

Narrated Abu Bakra: During the battle of Al-Jamal, Allah benefited me with a Word (I heard from the Prophet). When the Prophet heard the news that the people of the Persia had made the daughter of Khosrau their Queen (ruler), he said, "Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler."4

Thus it should come as no surprise that the last queen the Berbers have known was queen Dihja, who fought bravely against the Islamic invaders in an attempt to resist the subjugation of her people. Most of the other issues in regards to Islam should be clear to anyone who has basic knowledge of religion.

Islam values the testimony of women as half of that of men. The testimony of non-Muslims is invalid against Muslims. Muslim women are only allowed to marry Muslim men, whereas Muslim men can marry non-Muslim women as well as Muslim women. Islam allows men to marry four women, whereas women are only allowed to marry one man.

Worse still is the fact, rarely discussed, that Islam allows a man to rape women he has captured:

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (Allah her pleased with him) reported that at the Battle of Hanain Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) sent an army to Autas and encountered the enemy and fought with them. Having overcome them and taken them captives, the Companions of Allah's Messenger (may peace te upon him) seemed to refrain from having intercourse with captive women because of their husbands being polytheists. Then Allah, Most High, sent down regarding that:" And women already married, except those whom your right hands possess (iv. 24)" (i. e. they were lawful for them when their 'Idda period came to an end).

Issues such as these are not the product of Western imperialism or systematic racism or other terms that some academics have come up with in an effort to solve the contradiction that emerges when one perceives his own cultural background to be the source of all evil and encounters oppression in non-Western cultures. It is amazing to me that Western academics can declare Islam to be "gender-complementary" and yet choose to completely ignore the abundance of evidence that Islam is a patriarchal religion that condones rape.

Worse still are the apologists who proclaim that Muhammed simply adhered to the values of his time. If so, then his teachings should be irrelevant to us, as he has shown no intent whatsoever to provide future generations with a justice system that is more egalitarian in nature. If anything, the entirety of available evidence indicates to us that Islam was meant to be forever unchangeable. Islam has the term Bid'ah that serves to describe any attempt at changing Islamic doctrines through innovation, it is perceived as a great sin.

In conclusion, Islam is not compatible with Feminism. "Muslim Feminist" is a misnomer. In reality we are dealing with women who have internalized patriarchal oppression and fear the consequences of finally abandoning the teachings they grew up with. A prophet who practices and encourages the rape of women can never be redeemed.

If white feminists fear offending us WOC, then as a feminist and a WOC let me make clear that the only time I ever feel offended by white feminists is when they turn a blind eye to the oppression of women in non-Western cultures, or attempt to rationalize such oppression as "cultural differences" or the product of Western imperialism.  Feminism is incapable of emancipating women  in the Middle East until it dares to address the problem of Islam.

References:

1 - http://groupthink.jezebel.com/this-is-what-i-mean-when-i-say-white-feminism-1498799007
2 - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10428740/Leyla-Hussein-Meet-the-woman-tackling-FGM-and-The-Cruel-Cut-with-humour.html
3 - http://wikiislam.net/wiki/The_Story_of_Umm_Qirfa
4 - Sahih Bukhari 9:88:219
5 - Sahih Muslim 8:3432