Pietistic Movement Of Feminism In Egypt †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Pietistic Movement Of Feminism In Egypt. Answer: Introduction In her book Politics of Piety, Saba Mahmood made a very rare and provocative contribution about the different issues and complexities of Muslim women and perceptions related to their identity (Mahmood 2005, pp.9-10)[1].The book majorly devoted to the pietistic movement of feminism in Egypt and offered some theoretical insights that focus mainly on the deconstruction of sovereignty. The feminist scholar, Mahmood assumed that women throughout the world face identity crisis and console themselves in the name of tradition in the deeply patriarchal society. This book highlights and explains a new vision of the feminist theory that analyses and evaluates the complex relationship between gender and religion from a womans perspective. This book splits the concept of feminism between modern Muslim women who treats veil as a personal choice and others who accept veil as a religious command (Mahmood 2005, pp.190-198)[2]. The author of the book further introduced a new approach towards the study of identity and ethics in postcolonial social cultures. The author highlighted and attempted to correct the common misconception that women are not allowed to socialize with the men according to the Quranic virtues in her book. Analysis and Evaluation The book is an innovative analysis of the politics of Islamic culture through the description of the womens spiritual movement in the mosques of Egypt. The book consists of authors thesis on an anthropological field study in three mosques; Umar, Ayesha, and Nafisa where congregations of women are addressed by female preachers (Mahmood 2005, pp.45-50)[3]. According to the authors study, the mosque in Sunni Islam where women are not allowed and the all the relevant roles like religious practitioners, leader of the prayer, preacher and the entire authority is exclusively controlled by the patriarchal system. The three mosques among the six in her study reflected a different picture of Egypts social and economic culture and various styles adopted by the female preachers of that region. In a similar fled study conducted by a professor of the University of California, the research was not fruitful since no one co-operated and answered his queries regarding the details of personal circumsta nces of the female preachers and their followers. The author in his book tried to focus on the identity of the women, about their lives, the impact of their presence or existence in the prayer and inside the mosque and how this is related to their thoughts and way of living. The author gave a description of the dawa movement and the daiya preachers who have become the authorities outside the mosques and the institutional structures (Vasilaki 2016, pp.103-123)[4]. The book mentions the history of Zaynabal-Ghazali; an important role model who opened space for women in dawa in the 20th century. Certain arguments regarding the religious non-profits and dawa participants have also been highlighted in the book (Mahmood 2005, pp.25-40)[5]. The arguments readily focus on the fact that the participants tend to engage in the politics and aesthetic sensibilities though their intentions are never to change the state. In her approach, the author challenges the liberal norms namely the resistance and freedom. In her book, she showed that women inhabit the traditional norms by dealing with the sexual norms. She explored the fact that how women in Islamic society imply and follow the concepts of the patriarchal society and the classic Islamic norms to resolve their daily issues in their lives. She stated the fact that misconception still lies in the western culture regarding the livelihood of the Muslim women of Egypt. She suggested that adjustment for the divine ordinance of modesty should be done. Women rights have been a subject of controversy throughout the decades. In case of Islam, the cultural values and norms have suppressed the rights of the women to such an extent that the practice of the religious norms is hampered (Terman 2016, pp.77-102)[6]. The author of her book further explained the Aristotelian concept where it is believed that ethical subjects are formed by actions and not by the in fluence of any ideas. The author traces down the notion that how an individuals external action shapes down his internal self. She further explained that the Aristotelian concept is somewhat different from the Bourdieus concept and it focuses mainly on the development of the ethical self (Mahmood 2005, pp.133-140)[7]. Throughout the chapters of the book, the author clarified the requirement for the additional categories for the utilization of the western liberal thought that measures the sensitive and unusual circumstances of Islamic movements. Though the author in the book has discussed the concept of feminism and the lives of Islam women in the dominating patriarchal society in Egypt, the book misses the description of the country of Egypt and its political background. The author of the book stated that Hajja Faizas mosque was shut down but fails to state any specific reason towards it (Mahmood 2005, pp.119-130)[8]. Besides, the author stated that women in the mosque want to allow time for prayers in the institutions but the book does not contain any specific description of the educational system in the society. Hence the authors statement regarding the description of mosque women is very difficult to relate to the modern theory of feminism. Some of the incidents about the historical figures like Hasan al-Banna, who propagated the brotherhood ship in Islam at 1928 and Rahida Rida, who wrote a commentary on Quranic verses that has been stated in the book by the author has no minimum description in the entire book (Badran 2016,pp.45-60)[9]. The concept of Islamic Revival, as stated by the author in the introductory section of the book also seemed to be unclear. The author stated that there lies an Islamic Revival and yet the society is liberal and secular. This is again a contradictory statement by the author that questions the authors study. One of the biggest drawbacks of the book is the enormous and torturous theories of the author that describes her story and the study process. According to some reviewers, her theoretical explanation has been written in an extremely difficult style and the reader may find it difficult to understand. The major drawback of the book lies in the fact that the author has failed to elaborate and explain the concept of secular liberal feminism. At the end of her discussion in her book, Mahmood highlighted the dangerous connection between the war politics and the secular-feminist discourse. According to her study, the concept of feminism has become a politically prospective subject (Masoud et al. 2016, pp.1555-1598)[10]. One of the most important examples is the knowledge about the women of Afghanistan and their images of burka which symbolizes the oppression that contrasts the ideas related to freedom in the liberal world. From the viewpoint of a reader who is a university student, this book is of great importance since it gives the reader, a clear view of the position of women within the Muslim piety movement in Egypt (Mahmood 2005, pp.9-10)[11]. The book gives a clear idea about the Islamic piety and shatters all the stereotypes which dominate the thinking of the West. The common mode of feminism and liberalism that imposes of the women of the Muslim world has been cleared to the reader. This book has left the reader with the idea that there still exist space for individual freedom and self-realization within the religion if an individual keeps away from sinful behavior without combining the understanding with the basic forms of attires and clothing. The language in the book is feasible and accessible for a student from any background. Conclusion The book; Politics of Piety is a daring attempt by the author to understand and analyze the lives of the Islamic Women in Egypt. The author in her study argued and showered major objections to the Islam women wearing a veil and submitting to their husband wishes. Her study highlights the silent struggles of the Muslim women which are often being misunderstood by the western world and results in antagonism among the religious women. The author in her book tried to explain the lives of the women who visit the mosque to learn about Quran and implement the teachings of Quran in their day to day lives. References Badran, Margot. "Creative Disobedience: Feminism, Islam, and Revolution in Egypt." InWomens Movements in Post-Arab Spring North Africa, pp. 45-60. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2016. Mahmood, Saba. "Politics of piety."The Islamic revival and the feminist subject(2005). Masoud, Tarek, Amaney Jamal, and Elizabeth Nugent. "Using the Qur?n to empower Arab women? Theory and experimental evidence from Egypt."Comparative Political Studies49, no. 12 (2016): 1555-1598. Terman, Rochelle. "Islamophobia, feminism and the politics of critique."Theory, Culture Society33, no. 2 (2016): 77-102. Vasilaki, Rosa. "The politics of postsecular feminism."Theory, Culture Society33, no. 2 (2016): 103-123.