Muslim women launch international 'gender jihad'

[emad]

Giles Tremlett in Barcelona
Monday October 31, 2005
The Guardian


Marching under the banner of a new "gender jihad", Islamic feminists from around the world this weekend launched what they hope will become a global movement to liberate Muslim women.

The meeting, which drew women from as far apart as Malaysia, Mali, Egypt and Iran, set itself the task of squaring Islam with feminism. That meant not just combating 14 centuries of sexism in the Muslim world, participants said, but also dealing with the animosity to Islam of many western or secular feminists. They insisted that many of the fundamental concepts of equality embraced by feminism could also be found in the Qur'an.


"Gender jihad is the struggle against male chauvinistic, homophobic or sexist readings of the Islamic sacred texts," said Abdennur Prado, one of the meeting's Spanish organisers.

Those readings had been provided by Muslim scholars who, over the centuries, have been almost exclusively male. "Male chauvinism is the destruction of Islam as a well-balanced way of life," Mr Prado said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1605058,00.html

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. WOOOOO HOOOOO

Where can I send them money?????

[jobycom]

2. Cool. nt.

[xchrom]

3. cool -- you go, girls!

i love this enthusiasm -- especially in the face of such grinding bad news lately.

it's wonderful -- and progressive people everywhere never stop marching.

[Nikki Stone 1]

4. Why am I afraid their bodies will be found in dumpsters?

Nominating anyway

[formerrepuke]

5. "Bout time... Misogyny holds society back as a whole. The clerics

will put up fierce resistance, probably.

[pennylane100]

6. I wish them all the luck in the world

but I think it will take more than luck to protect them from the
extremists who will no doubt feel threatened by this. I hope they stay safe.