Mernissi is considered to be one of the major figures in Feminist thought for both Morocco and Muslim society in general. His areas of interest are translation and cross-cultural communication, journalism, media studies, and peace and non-violence studies. Fatema Mernissi’s (1940 –2015) work explores the relationship between sexual ideology, gender identity, sociopolitical organization, and the status of women in Islam; her special focus, however, is Moroccan society and culture. When I first came across Fatima Mernissi's work during my PhD, it felt like 'coming home'. After years of in-depth textual analysis of these two sacred texts, she contested the veracity of many Hadiths for epistemological and methodological reasons. 1/2 minute) introduction in Dutch, after that it is in English. Mernissi tackles issues such as Eurocentrism, intersectionality, transnationalism and global Feminism within her renowned publications, including: Beyond the Veil, The Forgotten Queens of Islam, Women’s Rebellion & Islamic Memory, and Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World. The former was translated into English in 1991 as THE VEIL AND THE MALE ELITE: A Feminist Interpretation of Women’s Rights in Islam in the USA. 1940) is a Moroccan sociologist and writer. The Veil and the Male Elite is a tricky book to rate, since I am definitely not its target audience. In her book “The Forgotten Queens of Islam,” she revives the forgotten legacy of many powerful women who ruled in many Muslim kingdoms and Sultanates from India to Muslim Spain, and who outwitted their male rivals in matters of war and peace. Islamic feminism may appear to be the inevitable result of this convergence. A Christian understanding of Muslim women is by nature an etic one and Western missionaries have been subject to heavy criticism for their alleged misunderstanding of Islamic cultures and in particular their misunderstanding of the role of women. Mernissi, Fatima By: Amal Rassam, Lisa Worthington Source: The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World Provides comprehensive scholarly coverage of the full geographical and historical extent of Islam Bibliography; Related Content. This stance threw so much confusion on her position that some Muslim scholars, including Islamic feminists, refused to consider her one of them. The status of women in the Muslim world today, according to her, is not to be blamed on the Qur’an or on the Prophet’s teachings, but on the male elite whose interests conflict with women’s rights. Here is a brilliant Muslim woman on a quest to separate the wheat from the chaff in her tradition. In “The Veil and the Male Elite,” Mernissi journeys “back in time [through her analysis of the hadith and the Qur’an] in order to find a fabulous wind that would swell our sails and send us gliding towards new worlds.”[2] The new worlds Mernissi aspired to are those in which Muslim women will proudly derive their rights from the core of their egalitarian religion as was the case in the Prophet’s city of Medina, not import them from the West. Nowadays, she keeps writing about these issues and developing her work in terms of current global events. A Christian understanding of Muslim women is by nature an etic one and Western missionaries have been subject to heavy criticism for their alleged misunderstanding of Islamic cultures and in particular their misunderstanding of the role of women. In honour of International Women’s Day, I’d like to write about the fascinating and prolific Moroccan scholar, Fatima Mernissi, who passed away in December 2015. I suppose I expected a feminist look at modern Muslim culture, and this book is really more a theological look at women's rights and a historical look at how various verses of the Koran that are used to justify anti-feminist sentiments in Muslim cultures came to be included. In Fès geboren, studierte Mernissi politische Wissenschaften in Marokkos Hauptstadt Rabat sowie Soziologie in Paris und Massachusetts. Mary Jo Lakeland (Cambridge: Perseus Books, 1991), p.10. Ihr großes Engagement für die Rechte der Frauen und anderer benachteiligter Gruppen - beispielsweise richtete sie Schreibwerkstätten ein - brachte ihr aber zugleich viel Bewunderung ein. Fatima Mernissi: Evolving Feminism(S) Topics: Sharia, Islam, Muslim world Pages: 11 (3746 words) Published: March 1, 2012. This short tribute is from an indirect student to a great scholar. Mernissi eventually came to the conclusion that “not only have the sacred texts always been manipulated, but manipulation of them is a structural characteristic of the practice of power in Muslim societies.”[3]. Like the great scholar Al-Bukhari, she exposes cases of fraudulence, where self-interested parties tried to impose their own prejudices as articles of faith. Die Feministin betonte stets, Frauen in der muslimischen Gesellschaft seien keine unterdrückten Opfer, sondern mächtige Strateginnen. Mernissi’s eyes were opened to the oppression of women in her country at a young age. She died on 30 November 2015 at the age of 75. [1] Fatima Mernissi, Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood (Cambridge: Perseus Books, 1994), p. 61. The renowned Moroccan sociologist and author Fatima Mernissi, who has died aged 75, was an important and influential figure in Arab Islamic feminism. This post contains affiliate links. Born in Fez to a middle-class family, Mernissi studied at the Mohammed V University in Rabat and later went to Paris, where she worked briefly as a journalist. the analysis of Moroccan Islamic feminist, Fatima Mernissi. In this vein, she declared that Islamic religious patriarchy ostensibly “professes models of hierarchical relationships and sexual inequality and puts a sacred stamp onto female subservience.”. [2] Fatima Mernissi, The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women’s Rights in Islam, trans. Her awareness of the position of women as being subordinate to men and socially, economically, and politically vulnerable started in her early childhood. The renowned Moroccan sociologist and author Fatima Mernissi, who has died aged 75, was an important and influential figure in Arab Islamic feminism. The Legacy of Fatema Mernissi, Moroccan Feminist and Scholar. Kontakt In the 1990s, scholars such as Leila Ahmed, Fatima Mernissi, and Amina Wadud instigated a new trajectory of thought that implicated early Muslim societies This is a guest post from Ausma Zehanat Khan. Tribute tot Fatima Mernissi.It starts with a short ( 1. Das 1975 erstmals auf Französisch erschienene Buch gilt als Standardwerk der interkulturellen Geschlechterforschung und wurde wie viele andere ihrer Publikationen in mehr als 20 Sprachen übersetzt. On November 30, 2015, the Moroccan sociologist, writer and feminist Fatema Mernissi died in Rabat at age 75. ", erklärte sie. When she questioned the restrictive rules imposed on women, her maternal grandmother, Yasmina, explained that those rules were made by men to deprive women in some way or another. Mit Susan Sontag (r.) bekam Mernissi 2003 in Oviedo den Prinz-von Asturien-Preis für Geisteswissenschaften und Literatur. While men cherished unconditional freedom to roam about, her kinswomen were confined inside the walls of the harem, and would promenade only when chaperoned, or disguised in men’s clothing. Europe and the US, however super-modern they may seem, are also rich in “religious influences, in myths, tales and traditions.” They also have their Christian-style mullahs (religious leaders). If the Judeo-Christian West has succeeded in reconciling religion and democracy why, then, are some Westerners dubious about Islam’s capacity to embrace modernity with all its liberal and humanist values? Fatima Mernissi’s legacy can be greatly attributed to her scholarly and literary contributions to the early feminist movement. Watch later. However, Islamic feminism as an analytic construct is also inadequate to con-cerns for sex equality in Islam. Fatima Mernissi (arabisch فاطمة مرنيسي, DMG Fāṭima Marnīsī, auch Fatema Mernissi; * 1940 in Fès; † 30. © 2021 Deutsche Welle | Fatima Mernissi: Evolving Feminism(S) Topics: Sharia, Islam, Muslim world Pages: 11 (3746 words) Published: March 1, 2012. To her, Islam was not revealed from heaven “to foster egotism and mediocrity.” Rather it has come “to sustain the people of the Arabian lands, to encourage them to achieve higher spiritual goals and equality for all.”[4] Thus, Mernissi’s feminist scholarship set the foundations of a new feminist critique that is known today as Islamic feminism, which detaches itself from Western feminism and its supremacist and essentialist assumptions about Muslim women. Kopftuch, Schleier oder Burka, deren koranische Verankerung sie in Frage stellte, sah sie vor allem als weibliches Instrument: "Der Schleier ist eine Art zu sagen: Hör mal, ich bin hübsch, ich bin nicht schlecht, oder? FIERCE MUSLIM FEMINISTS The late Fatima Mernissi (1940-2015) was a Moroccan feminist sociologist, who wrote prolifically over her life on the relationship between Islam, gender and the state, and is widely considered to be the Founder of Islamic Feminism. International bekannt wurde sie vor allem mit ihrem Werk "Geschlecht, Ideologie, Islam". The infamous statement, “Never – horrors! Jetzt starb sie im Alter von 75 Jahren in Rabat, wie die spanische Tageszeitung "El Mundo" berichtet. The book inventively brings to the fore the questions of cultural patriarchy, gender roles, public and private spaces, and gender inequality. Feminism ; Women and Social Reform ; Mernissi, Fatima Fatima Mernissi (b. Fatima Mernissi is one of the most prominent Islamic feminists, with a posthumous legacy of seminal scholarly contributions in the areas of feminism, women studies, and Islamic studies. İslamcı Feminist Kim? 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The world famous Moroccan sociologist and writer Fatima Mernissi was a mediator between cultures and a charismatic advocate for a genuine Arab feminism. Auch mit der marokkanischen Zivilgesellschaft setzte sich die Soziologin literarisch auseinander. Mernissi crossed borders to understand. In the preface to her book “The Veil and the Male Elite,” she posits that the Judeo-Christian Western context in which women have gained considerable social, political, and economic rights is no different than the Islamic context. Fatima Mernissi died November 30 … Fatima Mernissi, född 1940 i Fès, död 30 november 2015 i Rabat, var en marockansk sociolog, historiker och feminist. Fatima Mernissi's careful research is fascinating and challenging. When Fatema Mernissi is referred to in the context of gender egalitarian or feminist interpretations of Islam however, it is her two books, LE HAREM POLITIQUE (1987) and SULTANES OUBLIÉES(1990) that are usually mentioned. Mernissi’s project of feminist scholarship was characterized by secularism at first, as she believed then that the reconciliation between religion and feminism was a lost cause. Darin untersucht Mernissi die Rolle der Frau in der muslimischen Geschichte und argumentiert, der Koran rechtfertige keine Frauenunterdrückung. Her book “Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood” fictionally recounts the early days of her protagonist’s life – Fatima— and her growing awareness of the predicament of women in Muslim societies. When Fatema Mernissi is referred to in the context of gender egalitarian or feminist interpretations of Islam however, it is her two books, LE HAREM POLITIQUE (1987) and SULTANES OUBLIÉES (1990) that are usually mentioned. Fatima Mernissi, one of Morocco’s foremost writers in the fields of sociology and Islamic feminism, has died. Ein weiteres bedeutendes Buch, das auch auf Deutsch erschien, ist: "Der politische Harem - Mohammed und die Frauen". Kritik erfuhr die wohl bekannteste Frauenrechtlerin des Maghreb von vielen Seiten, auch für ihre bisweilen allzu positive Einschätzung der islamischen Welt. Ausma holds a Ph.D. in international human rights law. Sie wuchs, wie sie es nannte, in einem Harem auf, einem abgeschlossenen … Fatima Mernissi: Setting Sail, Lifting the Veil. Hence, her critical textual analysis of Islamic sacred texts demystifies the sphere of knowledge forged, perpetuated, and officially propagated through religious institutions by Muslim male theologists who simply and unscrupulously bet on women’s ignorance of Islam’s history. Die marokkanische Soziologin und Autorin galt als eine der bekanntesten Frauenrechtlerinnen der muslimischen Welt. Am Montag starb die marokkanische Soziologin Fatima Mernissi im Alter von 75 Jahren. However, a deeper study of Mernissi’s thought indicates that she distinguishes between two Islams: orthodox Islam and authentic Islam. Fatema Mernissi. He is an Alumnus of the University of the Middle East Project since July 2011. Fatima Mernissi, one of Morocco’s foremost writers in the fields of sociology and Islamic feminism, has died. Fatima Mernissi (b. While her scholarship always worked toward defending and ensuring access to women’s rights in Muslim society, Mernissi’s ideological approaches experienced an evolution throughout her career. When you buy through these links, Book Riot may earn a commission. In the harem, where she grew up, she realized the many physical/visible and mental/invisible hudud (sacred frontiers) set up for women not to trespass. In remembrance of one of feminism’s trail-blazing scholars who challenged Muslim orthodoxy by placing women at the centre of her enquiry. We're going to remember a woman who was described in today's New York Times obituary as a founder of Islamic feminism. Youssef is also a graduate of the International Centre on Non-violent Conflict after his participation in the Fletcher Summer School on Non-violent Resistance at Tufts University, Boston, in June 2014. As a feminist, her work represents an attempt to undermine the ideological and political systems that silence and oppress … The Moroccan writer and sociologist Fatima Mernissi, known for her pioneering work in the field of Islamic feminism, has died. Her books were widely received around the world and acclaimed for their audacity in engaging with the thorny questions of women’s issues in Islam and in Muslim societies. Mernissi was my scholar-hero of Islamic feminism, gender equality and human dignity as seen from a female eye.