Nimat Hafez Barazangi
Why Muslim/Arab Women are Re-interpreting the Qur'an
Arab Cultural and Community Center
San Francisco, March 29, 2012
Abstract
The idea is that Muslim/Arab women have remained a passive force in changing the reality of the approximately 800 million Muslim/Arab women and the prevailing unjust practices in Islamic/Arabic thought. For example, a woman is treated as secondary or complementary in the social structure. This is the case today despite the UN Development Agency reports that the majority of university students in most Muslim/Arab countries are females.
By reflecting on some historical reform movements, I will use examples from contemporary events to argue that passive views and unjust practices concerning Muslim/Arab women remain because the premises and foundations of reform have not changed. For example, American-Muslim/Arab female scholar-activists have significantly contributed to the study of Muslim/Arab women and to the reinterpretation of the Qur'an during the past two to three decades, but negative attitudes and unjust practices about Muslim/Arab women still prevail. That is, we rarely see Muslim/Arab organizations and governments or American educational institutions acknowledge and mainstream such contributions for the reconstruction of new knowledge of Islam.
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2012 Nimat Hafez Barazangi