Why is there a need for this book?

Muslim women and their ‘emancipation’ remain a key project of liberal universalists. The Muslim woman and her role in society have unwittingly become a front line in this cacophony of voices to embrace liberal ‘modernity’. From politicians to pundits, the obsession with the Muslim woman’s dress, habits, roles, motivations, and place in a Muslim family seems to have become a political project driven by a wider desire to engender an “Islamic reformation”. We plan, through this book, to bring together genuine voices of Muslim women, intelligently tracing the historical and present-day political project to embrace feminism and undermine Islamic social values. ​

Who are we?

My name is Farhat Amin, I’m the editor of the book and a member of The Thinking Muslim team, a writer, and the host of Smart Muslima podcast. This book is one of our projects. Inshallah, The aim of The Thinking Muslim is to inspire and equip Muslims with the thought required to gain confidence about our faith and to embrace the timeless challenge of Islam to humanity. Our other projects currently include courses across the UK and online, podcasts, and a book club to encourage depth and critical thinking. ​ 

Who are your writers?

We have developed a team of talented women writers and enlisted a group of ulema and scholars to check the book for its Islamic content prior to publication. 

Here is a brief summary of some of our writers:

Dr. Dinar Dewi Kania & Ummi farhah, M.IRKH, Ph.D (Cand)

Dinar holds a Doctorate degree in Islamic Education and Thought at the University of Ibn Khaldun, Indonesia. She lectures at the Trisakti Postgraduate Program and STID Mohammad Natsir and Jakarta. She is also a researcher at the (Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought and Civilization (INSISTS), Director of the Center for Gender Studies (CGS), and Head of Research Department at AILA Indonesia.

As an academic researcher, Dinar has authored books, edited and contributed to anthologies, and published journal articles in the fields of gender studies, ethics,  epistemology, and Islamic Thought. She is also an Editor in Chief of an academic journal and peer reviewer for other international journals.

Dinar’s books include inter alia :

  (1) Co-Editor and Contributor of Anthology: "Filsafat Ilmu: Perspektif Islam dan Barat" (Philosophy of Knowledge: Islamic and Western Perspectives )

  (2) Editor and Contributor of Anthology: "Delusi Kesetaraan Gender: Tinjauan Kritis Konsep Gender" (Gender Equality Delusion : Critical Study toward the Concept of Gender);

  (3) Author of "Pemikiran Epistemologi Syed M. Naquib Al-Attas Dan Frithjof Schuon" (SMN Al-Attas and Frithjof Schuon Thoughts on Epistemology)

  (4)  Contributor of Anthology: Framework Studi Islam (Islamic Studies Framework).

  (5) Lead Author of "Transformasi Menuju Fitrah: LGBT Dalam Perspektif Keindonesiaan" (Transformation towards Fitrah: LGBT in an Indonesian perspective)

(6) Contributor of Anthology: Diskursus Soal Islam, Politik dan Hubungan Internasional (Discourse on Islam, Politics and International Relations)

Nuriddeen Knight research fellow for Yaqeen Institute.

Nuriddeen completed an MA in psychology with a focus on child and family from Columbia University. Alongside her academic degree, she studied traditional Islamic knowledge including Islamic law, theology, spirituality, and prophetic biography with local scholars in NY and NJ and in the majalis in Amman, Jordan.

She is the author of 40 Hadith of ‘Aisha, a collection of 40 English Hadith narrated by our Lady Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her. Her upcoming book is entitled, ‘Gender, Faith and Society’, her current interests include women’s issues, Islam in modernity, and ethical living. You can read her ongoing commentary and reflections on these issues and more on her blog, bythefigandtheolive.com

Ilham Ibrahim founder of Qurtuba Online.

A surgical nurse by profession, she’s an avid reader and studies history and sacred sciences. She is currently living in Istanbul pursuing higher Islamic education. www.qurtubaonline.org

Farhat Amin is a teacher, writer, and host of Muslima Mindset. She is a researcher, writer, and founder of The Thinking Muslim. In the UK, Farhat has delivered lectures on Women in Islam and Feminism. She has also authored a number of children’s books and runs a Muslim educational resources company. Muslima Mindset Podcast 

Umm Affan Hashmi is a dentist by qualification, a home educator, and stay at home mom by choice and a student of deen. She's passionate about helping women feel confident in their identity. She blogs over at www.theoddmuslimah.com

Sahra Abdullahi is a writer and a researcher of sociolinguistics. She has for many years been an active member of the Muslim community in London and has a deep interest in Islamic studies in conjunction with studies of modernity and liberalism.

Bleta Januzi is studying International Relations and International Law. She is also a Martial Artist in Japanese Ju-jitsu and an MMA instructor for women and children. 

Nour Goda is a writer and educator who has delivered lectures on the subject of feminism and marriage. She blogs over at www.nourmgoda.com

Laura El Alam embraced Islam in the year 2000. She is a writer, editor, and mother of five. Her work has been published in Muslimmatters.org, Why Islam, About Islam, and Al Jumuah. She is the founder of www.seaglasswritingandediting.com

How will you check the Islamic content?

We have enlisted a group of Islamic scholars and thinkers from a broad spectrum of orthodox opinion to verify the Islamic content in the final draft. The book's contributors are all concerned about conveying accurate Islamic ideas, rooted in orthodox Islamic teaching as this is a sacred duty.

How will your contribution help?

This book is not a business venture, and all money raised will go towards producing, printing, and promoting the book.

This book and its content will be disseminated to various audiences in different formats, including audio, video, courses, and conferences so Muslims and non-Muslims can engage with the content. The idea is to turn this into a sustainable model where people pay for the book and in turn, that gives more funds to promote the book further.

Over the past months, we have brought together a team of Muslim women writers and researchers from all over the world, from the UK, Turkey, Indonesia, the US, Australia, and elsewhere. We now need to realise this project with your help.

Here is how we shall use your contribution

Designing

Publishing

Marketing the book

Disseminating its content to a wider audience (as outlined above)

​
If you'd love to see this book become a reality then please:

​Make sincere dua for the project

Contribute to this campaign on LaunchGood

Share the campaign with anyone else who might want to be part of it!

Read your copy once you receive it and contribute to the discussion we hope it will engender.

JazakAllahu khairan for your generous duas and contributions!
     
The chapters of the book
     
1. Why Muslim women are turning to feminism? - Exploring the reasons why Muslim women feel they can attain their rights and empowerment through feminism.

2. The idea of equality – addressing the root idea of equality, its origins, and how feminism was borne out of a movement for greater equality. Equality is closely linked to liberalism and founded upon a uniquely western problem, namely the lack of rights for women and the confused role of men and women.

3. The roots of feminism – looking at the four waves of feminism and its historical and present impact.

4.Feminism the Muslim American experience 

5. Feminism as a foreign policy tool – how the ‘emancipation’ of women has been a favoured project of liberal powers, tracking the past and present.

6. The sexualisation of women - addressing the objectification of women in liberal societies and how this phenomenon is closely linked to calls for women’s emancipation.

7. The reform project to create a “Muslim feminism” – researching and disclosing how governments east and west attempt to promote feminism as a cover for a broader reform project.

8. The misrepresentation of Muslim women in popular culture 

9. The impact of feminism on young Muslim women – address the impact upon the future Muslim minds, the impact upon family, Islamic notions of modesty, and marriage.

10. The modest fashion façade – how hijab and women’s dress has been commercialised and, in the process, the religious quality of hijab has been undermined.

11. The Islamic way of thinking – addressing the process of Ijtihad (deriving rules from the text) and how divine justice can only be achieved through a genuine attempt to discover Allah’s universal law and how equality is neither a starting point of this process nor a consideration.

12. Being a mother and a wife – how Islam places a great deal of importance upon these roles, not only for the stability of a family but as the bedrock of a tranquil society.

13. Careers - can working women have it all? Islam’s approach to education and careers contrast with women in a capitalist economy.

14. Women in Islamic society – drawing upon scholarly work and Islamic evidence, explaining the contribution of women in an Islamic society but also offering a critique of modern Muslim societies.

15. Feminist activism - 'wokeness' and its finite nature. 

16. Like one body - cultivation cooperation amongst Muslim men and women to establish justice.

17. Islamic activism - How can women gain their Islamic rights?

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