Authored by the Iraqi-born Waleed Saleh (b. 1951), who has a doctorate in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the UAM, where he serves as an Honorary Full Professor, Feminism and Islam: An Impossible Equation, consists of an introduction, six short chapters, and a bibliography.
The first chapter, “Women and the Foundation Texts of Islam,” examines the main sources of the Muslim faith. Saleh acknowledges that some verses seem to present women favorably. However, they are decontextualized and contradict many verses that degrade them. To put it plainly, “the vaunted equality between men and women in Islam does not resist the slightest criticism, nor does it align with historical and social reality.”
The second chapter, “The Official Status of Women,” demonstrates that the apple does not fall far from the tree. Saleh’s critique is blistering in its honesty: “The representatives of official Islam view and treat women with disdain and contempt. For them, women are objects, disposable commodities, and baby-making machines. They trample upon their dignity and denigrate their humanity”
The third chapter, “Women as the Object of Fatwas,” highlights the asininity of Muslim clerics from all sides of the sectarian spectrum. Thanks to petrodollars, satellite stations, the internet, and social media, cyber clerics have inundated the Muslim world with the most ridiculous of religious rulings aimed at women.
The fourth chapter examines “The Struggle of Women against the Islamic Tradition.” As Saleh points out, many women with origins in the Muslim-majority world are acutely aware of the injustices that are inherent to the Islamic tradition.
The fifth chapter, “The Prison of Feminism,” exposes the oxymoron that is Islamic feminism. As the author explains, the women behind this movement lack any profound knowledge of Arabic and Islamic jurisprudence. They distort Qur’anic terms, replace them with others, and blame exegetes for their “erroneous” interpretations.
The sixth chapter, “Cultural Relativism and the Damage to Women’s Rights,” criticizes claims that universal ethical norms are non-existent and that all cultures are equal. As a defender of universal principles, Saleh denounces the dangers that certain ideologies pose to women.
It is tragic to the rights of women that the works of people like Waleed Saleh and other universal secular feminists are largely unknown to English-language readers while the works of Islamic feminists are widely circulated. The only way to help remedy this situation is to read, cite, and spread the works of critical and constructive scholars.
