Fighting Hislam

Women, Faith and Sexism

by Susan Carland

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Pub Date May 01 2017 | Archive Date Jun 18 2017

Melbourne University Publishing | Melbourne University Press

Nonfiction (Adult) | Religion & Spirituality

Description

The Muslim community that is portrayed to the West is a misogynist's playground; within the Muslim community, feminism is often regarded with sneering hostility.

Yet between those two views there is a group of Muslim women many do not believe exists: a diverse bunch who fight sexism from within, as committed to the fight as they are to their faith. Hemmed in by Islamophobia and sexism, they fight against sexism with their minds, words and bodies. Often, their biggest weapon is their religion.

Here, Carland talks with Muslim women about how they are making a stand for their sex, while holding fast to their faith.

At a time when the media trumpets scandalous revelations about life for women from Saudi Arabia to Indonesia, Muslim women are always spoken about and over, never with. In Fighting Hislam, that ends.

Advance Praise

‘Fighting Hislam is an insider’s story of the fight against sexism by twenty-three Muslim women. Carland provides a compelling alternative to Western clichés of Muslim women as either oppressed or lascivious members of the harem. Sexism is, she argues, challenged by Muslim women from classic Islamic teachings, making the case that feminism and Islam can be complementary.’ GILLIAN TRIGGS

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9780522870350
PRICE	$22.99 (USD)

Additional Information

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Featured Reviews

Under the P, Reviewer

This book is about a PhD dissertation about female genital mutilation done by the author, mainly investigating the way Muslim women fight sexism within Muslim communities (and outside of them too). And do, do you ask? Because even today, Muslim women are humiliated at every turn. Why a Muslim woman can only teach women and not men or why a Muslim woman has to sit behind the men in a classroom and never beside them is beyond me.
But luckily, there are women fighting for a change and Susan Carland is one of them. She interviewed 23 influential Muslim women: theologians, activists, writers, bloggers, married, never married, single, widow and even divorced women. The majority of them were born and raised as Muslims but some of them were converts to the Islam.
She asked them about their motivations, why they’re criticized, the sources of discouragement or even about their struggle to get a leadership position, and all their answers are here.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I knew all of this was a problem but I didn’t know that their struggle was this big. Works like this book must be encouraged and appreciated. Susan was smart when it comes to the way she approached the women she had to interview and her questions were made with a propose.

Thank you Netgalley and Melbourne University Publishing for the book.