Islam and feminism? – women’s movement for gender equality in Egypt

Abstract

In the West in recent years growing interest in Islam is observed both in media and in academic circles as well as among the public. No doubt this increased attention to the followers of Allah mainly stems from general social fear of other, different, often hostile religious and cultural minority whose great representation and distinct presence in many Western countries cannot be ignored.

In order to discard the fear of any other, foreign culture, you need to become acquainted with it, study it with the help of familiar, hitherto used tools, concepts and statements primarily for comparison and examination of the differences and similarities between the two. The following article is a voice in the debate on Islam from a Western perspective and more specifically on the emancipation activities of Muslim women as the ‘feminist movement’ – concept of which and theoretical assumptions are part of the Western thought.

The aim of this paper is to attempt to answer the question whether and how feminism is possible within the Arab-Muslim culture. First part of the article deals with theoretical definitions of the terms ‘Islam’ and ‘feminism’ respectively. Secondly, to consider the assumption synthesising the two concepts there has been carried out a of reconstruction of the origins and evolution process of the women’s movement in Egypt through the characterisation of the three waves of the movement, based on the previous literature on the subject in English. Finally, with reference to it and in conclusion the new scientific concepts and notions of: ‘Islamic feminism’, ‘Muslim feminism’ and ‘Islamist feminism’ are justified and explained.