As examples, Zia cites the activism of female parliamentarians of the MMA in 2004, who gave up their historic opposition to the discriminatory Zina Ordinance, and in line with their party’s “conservative male dictate” voted against amendments to the Zina Ordinance (pp. She argues that “The political experience in the Pakistani context has shown, however, that faith-based agency of women is not just innocuously adopted for non-liberal, non-feminist ends nor as a willing embracement and celebration of gender inequality only but increasingly to actively support a patriarchal Islamist agenda”(pp.86). She refers to the Al-Huda movement/collective and the experiences coming out of the Jamia Hafsa/Laal Masjid incident to draw home the point that the political consequences of pietest agency are not so innocuous to the feminist project, and may in fact entail support for patriarchal notions that buttress women’s subjugation.įor Zia there is an inherent danger in relying on faith-based agency as a source of women’s rights and emancipation since religion (together with other cultural practices) is/may be deployed as a tool to reinforce women’s subjugation. Zia claims that “the actual political consequences of piety have remained under-examined or deliberately sidelined”(pp. Zia, quite rightly questions whether such internal, docile agency is apolitical/non-transformative. Such docile pietiest agency is more internal, both in object and form. The consequence/objective of such agency is then not emancipation. Participation in pietiest/religious collectives (such as Al-Huda in our context) arguably assigns value to women’s sacrifices, desires, and struggles for space within what may be exclusionary hierarchies, according to them a sense of self-realisation. Drawing on the women’s mosque movement in Egypt, Saba Mahmood argues that women’s agency may be viewed as “performative” instead of being “transformative”.
Zia explains that a more recently emergent strand of feminist scholars, spearheaded by Professor Saba Mahmood (late), have however, sought to conceptualise women’s agency beyond the binary of resistance-subordination to find value in Muslim women’s docile pietest agency. Both Islamic and Secular Feminisms conceive of their politics as resistance to subordination of women, but employ different methodologies. Secular feminism, on the other hand, Zia explains, grounds its demand for women’s rights within a human rights discourse and is open to recognising and critiquing the interplay of cultural-religious practices in buttressing patriarchy. She states, “The spaces for Muslims to be anything other than a religious category has become increasingly narrow over the last decade … Academics around the world are increasingly complicit in encouraging a kind of Muslim exceptionalism which is blunted through the lens of …” (pp.
Zia argues that Islamic Feminism has gained impetus in the post-9/11 era of the War on Terror, as the Muslim world has increasingly come to be viewed through a reductive, religious lens. Islamic Feminism (as propounded by writers such as Margot Badran and Haideh Moghissi) rejects a singular, male interpretation of Islam as authoritative/ correct, and seeks to reinterpret Islam to re-locate and reclaim women’s rights within the Islamic/religious framework. Feminist thought in the Pakistani context, can largely be categorized as “Islamic Feminism” and “Secular Feminism” (though Zia refers to various sub-categories within these). 22).įor a reader unfamiliar with the subject, Zia’s exposition of the varied strands of feminism is extremely valuable. Zia’s primary objective is to, through such exposition, demonstrate the critical need for a secular, human rights approach to feminist agency, debunking the assertion that “secular politics, aims and sensibilities are impossible, impractical or undesirable for Muslim women” (pp. Feminism - the philosophy and the movements it has inspired – is often unknown or largely misunderstood, not only for what its represents, but also its historical trajectory and development in Pakistan.Īfiya Zia’s book, “Faith and Feminism in Pakistan” offers an important explanation and critique of feminist philosophy(ies)/approach(es) in Muslim contexts, in particular in Pakistan, threshing out its(their) theoretical underpinnings and practical/political implications.
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