Representations of Muslim Woman in Selected Works of Ayan Hirsi Ali, Leila Aboulela, Nisrin Taslima and Randa Abdelfattah: Debating Islamic Feminism

Abstract

The present study aims at examining Islamic feminism as a new trend in both literary theory and writing. At the outset, it is essential to differentiate between two tracks of Islamic feminism.  The first is Islamic feminism as an ideological movement whose proponents are engaged in theorizing and validating a view of Islam that gives women equal rights with men.  Through their writings, these Islamic scholars attempt to reinterpret Islamic law and ideology outside the main framework of patriarchal dogma, thereby, providing a fresh insight into the true essence of equality in Islam. The second track is Islamic feminist creative writing and artistic expression, a newly burgeoning movement in literature and the arts, written by Muslim women who embody their own understanding of Islamic feminism within their fictional worlds.  These works of art stand autonomously outside the ideological debate. And they have to be read, not as attempts to defend or celebrate Islam, but rather as works of art that represent facets of reality, of people facing their own destinies but who happen to be Muslim, practicing their Islam through their own understanding and interpretation. The study will show how, through literature, the pro-Islamic feminist writers attempt to challenge and counter the conceptions and attitudes of the anti-Islamic feminist writers.