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Abstract
ABSTRACT This dissertation critically interrogates the discourse of Islamic feminism by examining its theological, epistemological, and political foundations, ultimately arguing that Islamic feminism functions less as a liberatory feminist project and more as a religious-political ideology complicit in neocolonial domination. While Islamic feminism claims to offer a progressive reinterpretation of Islamic texts to advocate for gender justice, it often relies on patriarchal epistemologies rooted in tafsīr (Qur'anic exegesis), sharia, and Arabized cultural norms. These frameworks constrain feminist potential by anchoring women's rights in religious doctrine rather than in historical, material, and indigenous epistemologies.The dissertation is organized into four interrelated papers. The first paper, “What is Islamic Feminism?” critiques Islamic feminism’s foundational premises, questioning its assumptions about identity, morality, and liberation. It challenges the framing of Muslim women's emancipation within an Islamic identity that is itself shaped by postcolonial religious revival movements. The second paper, “Between Scriptural Authority and Gender Equality,” analyzes feminist tafsīr, revealing internal inconsistencies between claims to gender equality and continued reliance on divine authority. This chapter argues that feminist interpretations of the Qur'an remain entrapped in apologetic hermeneutics that limit critical ethical inquiry.
The third paper, “The Epistemology of Modesty,” explores how the moral concepts of ḥayā’ (modesty/shyness) and taqwā (fear of God) are instrumentalized in pious female subject formation. Drawing on affect theory and psychology, it argues that these traits are cultivated not as free moral choices, but as affective controls rooted in fear, gender norms, and social coercion. The final paper, “Rethinking Gender Equality in Egypt,” proposes an alternative decolonial feminist framework grounded in Egypt’s indigenous, pre-Arab, agrarian history. It advances a land-based, eco-agrarian epistemology that challenges both Western liberal feminism and Islamic identity politics, advocating for a historically rooted vision of gender justice.
Collectively, the dissertation calls for a radical epistemic-moral shift beyond religious identity frameworks, urging a feminist politics grounded in land, labor, and historical memory. It critiques both Western and Arabized patriarchies, proposing de-Arabization as a necessary decolonial feminist step in North Africa.