If this be Madness: An Anthology to Honour the Life and Courage of Shamima Shaikh

International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 2018

This paper investigates the notion of liberation through insanity in The Story of Zahra by Hanan Al-Shaykh. While many scholars and literary critics have explored domestic violence in literature, and notions of liberation through sexuality in The Story of Zahra by Hanan Al-Shaykh, the impact of domestic violence as a triggering factor in The Story of Zahra by Hanan Al-Shaykh which leads to liberation acted out in the context of madness has not been addressed. In order to investigate these aspects in the novel, this paper draws on the views of post-modern feminist literary criticism. This literary approach is crucial to highlighting the gender inequality.The analytical approach followed in this paper is that of thematic analysis. The paper mainly highlights the recurrent themes of physical violence and insanity. Then, the paper examines the content of the novel to support the argument about the association between insanity and liberation. Thus, three main issues are addressed: Domestic violence types and definitions, feminist theoretical views in relation to patriarchal authority, and notions of insanity in relation to liberation in feminist post-modern literary criticism. The main argument in this paper is that insanity is utilized as a tool directed towards liberation from male authority and oppression towards women; hence, the need arises to replace the recurrent term 'madness' in The Story of Zahra by Hanan Al-Shaykh with 'mental rebellion against male control and oppression'.

Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 2021

Media has stripped Muslim women of agency by promoting the stereotype of a "submissive" Muslim woman. My essay seeks to build a counter archive of wilful Muslim women by tracing the moves of Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto. I argue that Benazir's wilfulness became a catalyst for collective action that not only overthrew a tyrannical regime, but also expanded the borders of possibilities for Muslim women. Using Sara Ahmed's theoretical construct of wilfulness, I develop three themes: how Benazir became a marked woman, how wilfulness spread amongst Pakistanis, and how Benazir's wilfulness empowered female leadership in the Muslim world. I conclude with some autoethnographic remarks on what Benazir's legacy means to me as a Pakistani Muslim woman.

An International Journal of Asian Literatures, Cultures and Englishes, 2016

This paper examines four women writers who have contributed through their writings and actions to the awakening of women in Bangladesh: Roquiah Sakhawat Hossein, Sufia Kamal, Jahanara Imam and Taslima Nasrin. The first three succeeded in making a space for themselves in the Bangladesh tradition and carved a special niche in Bangladesh. All three of them were writers in different genres – poetry, prose, fiction – with the last best known for her diary about 1971. While these iconic figures contributed towards women’s empowerment or people’s rights in general, Taslima Nasrin is the most radically feminist of the group. However, while her voice largely echoes in the voices of young Bangladeshi women today – often unacknowledged – she has been shunned by her own country. The paper attempts to explain why, while other women writers have also said what Taslima Nasrin has, she alone is ostracised.

Greater visibility does not automatically translate into emancipatory possibilities. Representations of Muslim girl- and woman-hood are congealing around two formulations. On one hand, Muslim women are being increasingly viewed as savvy consumers and empowered fashionistas; and on the other, as suspect, jihadi, and threatening. Not unlike prior framings, these representations are simply new modalities through which state and capitalist forces can advance the surveillance of Muslim women or make profits off of them.

The Daily Star, 2022

I read Sisters in the Mirror from cover to cover and highly recommend it to readers. This foundational text marks a significant contribution to feminist debates and Muslim women's writing and is an incredible resource for students and researchers working in the field of global/transnational feminism and South Asian Muslim women. It provides a compact history of contemporary women's rights movements in the West and beyond. A look at the acknowledgements and works cited sections of the book confirms the wide range of people and sources that Shehabuddin consulted to produce it. Its engaging nature gripped me from start to finish so much that I put aside other reading activities while perusing it. Given its content and style, it is not an exaggeration to say that Sisters in the Mirror is one of the most informative and insightful books I have read on gender issues and feminist politics from a global perspective.

This is an investigation of the rise of Islamic Feminisms in South Africa. I argue that: 1. with its roots in developments within the Muslim community in the 1980s, Islamic Feminisms in South Africa flourished from 1990 to 1998. 2. the emergence of Islamic feminisms in South Africa was based on particular readings of Islamic scripture. The process of rereading these scriptures was assisted by a developing international trend towards the reinterpretation of Islamic scriptures from a contextual perspective and specifically the reinterpretation of the Qur’ān and Sunnāh from a feminist perspective. 3. the development of political Islam in South Africa in the 1980s and its interaction with the national liberation struggle was an important factor in the rise of Islamic feminisms. I will narrate and analyse this history in terms of the development of several key organisations and moments: the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa and its Gender Desk, the Call of Islam, women’s attempts to claim space in the mosques, Muslim Personal Law, Muslim media, the matter of Radio Islam and the funeral of feminist Shamima Shaikh. It is within this history and its broader context of struggle in South Africa that I propose two types of Islamic feminist thought having emerged: activist feminist thought and academic feminist thought. I will analyse these two tendencies and show how the comparative rise of the latter affected the manifestations of Islamic feminisms in the late 1990s. The high point of Islamic feminisms in South Africa, I show, was in 1997-1998. I argue that the lull in feminist activity from 1998 to 2000 was caused by several reasons, one of which was the increased academicisation of Islamic feminisms in South Africa. Finally, I lay out and discuss some of the challenges facing Islamic feminists in South Africa for the future. These challenges, if met and addressed, I argue, could result in the re-emergence of Islamic feminisms in South Africa. I thus propose ways in which the Islamic feminist agenda in South Africa can be revived and strengthened.

This article explores the use of radical women in Pakistan by male militants to serve their interests and promote their cause. The women of Jamia Hafsa madrasa are featured.

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