When Nussaibah Younis enters a room, face neatly outlined by the black edges of her headscarf, people are quick to typecast: fundamentalist, conservative, passive, dull, awkward to be around. Nussaibah had to spend Freshers’ Week at Merton College breaking down the barrier of stereotype the hijab had erected between her and her non-Muslim counterparts. With this cultural hurdle surmounted, fellow students were able to see Nussaibah as her own person, interesting, confident, passionate and eloquent. She is well described by that purportedly oxymoronic duo of adjectives: Muslim and feminist. Yet her religion and her gender politics are not antagonistic forces, battling for domination over her identity. For Nussaibah, Islam and feminism are two complementary, mutually reinforcing ideologies.

This may come as something of a surprise for Westerners in the habit of squeezing the world’s one billion Muslims into the pigeon hole of the patriarchal brand of Islam, as practised by the Saudi government and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The state of women’s lives in Pakistan where they have been the victims of ‘honour killings’ and in Saudi Arabia where they are denied the vote belies the incredibly progressive history of the religion.

In an era when everywhere women were considered inferior and treated as the mere property of men with no rights of their own, Islam emerged as the most forwardthinking and revolutionary force promoting women’s rights and gender equality.

The inferior status of women was institutionalised in the Jewish and Christian traditions by their rendition of the story of the Garden of Eden, in which Eve was held to be ultimately responsible for original sin and the fall of man. This brief narrative became a cornerstone in the foundation of Western culture and its ramifications have since taken hundreds of years to abrogate. Contrast this with Islamic practice in which Adam and Eve are taken as being equally responsible and equally guilty. It is the equality of the sexes before the eyes of God that is the most important provision to devout believers like Nussaibah. For a spiritual person, there can be no more meaningful an equality than spiritual equality.

The Qur’an devotes more column space to women’s matters than all other social issues combined. Islam was centuries ahead of Judaeo- Christian culture, providing women with property rights and the right to inherit, at a time when women themselves were property to be inherited. In spite of the profoundly ingrained patriarchy of 7th century Arabia this holy book enshrined the prerogative of women to work and to keep the money they earn while men are obligated to use their earnings to ensure their womenfolk are provided for. The Prophet Mohammed himself is arguably the oldest ‘New Man’: when not busy in devotion to Allah or spreading Islam he would chip in with the cooking and sewing. Women were also granted the right to equal reward for equal deeds, the British equivalent of this centuries old Qur’anic passage being the 1970 Equal Pay Act.

Contrary to the impression fostered by countless news reports of tragic Muslim brides forced against their will into inimical marriages, Islam strictly prohibits duress in matrimonial affairs. The Prophet Mohammed is reported as having said, “A matron should not be given in marriage except after consulting her; a virgin should not be given in marriage except after her permission.” And should a woman give permission and later come to regret her decision she has the right to divorce her husband, for whatever reason.

The disenfranchisement of women in Saudi Arabia and the recent decision of the Kuwaiti government to prohibit women from running for political office are made yet more reprehensible given the fact that the Qu’ran accords women the right to full participation in all spheres of public life and to be represented by those in power.

The early stages of Islamic civilisation were often considerably more liberal and feminist than the varieties of Islam that some subsequent generations have practised. In the 1300 year history of the religion, Muslim communities, states and leaders have placed restrictions on the freedom of women that have no justification in the Qur’an or the Hadiths (teachings of the Prophet) while women in the Judaeo-Christian world have slowly but surely been accorded rights and equality with men not provided for in the scriptures.

In the interlude immediately after Mohammed’s death women joined men at the forefront of religious, political, social and intellectual affairs. They played key roles in the dissemination of knowledge and tested authority when it contradicted their understanding of the Qur’an or the Prophet’s teaching. However, during the Abbasid period, when the religion’s cornerstones were being laid down, leading Islamic intellectuals were exclusively male. These men had not known the Prophet, had no first hand experience with revelation and were subject to great influence by intellectual and moral traditions antithetical to Islam. Women’s rights were subjugated. Women went from being autonomous individuals to subservient beings living in seclusion. Women’s status in the law was reduced to that of material objects and possessions.

{T}oday, Muslim leaders who have no democratic mandate to govern must seek their legitimacy elsewhere. Appearing to adhere to and to enforce the alleged fundamentals of Islam is a convenient mechanism for conferring popular legitimacy as well as providing cover for authoritarian control over the citizenry. Women inevitably bear the brunt of this repugnant strategy, for the easiest and most potently patent way for a state to assert its ‘Islamic’ identity is to cover up a woman’s body and strip her of her rights. These patriarchs also hope that in doing so their subjects will be distracted from some of their own most unIslamic activities – drinking, gambling, and revelling in their oil fuelled wealth.

Muslim women the world over, disgusted at the way in which Islam’s position on women has been twisted, contorted, and distorted into such grotesque and malevolent configurations, are attempting to turn the tables. Islamic feminists are seeking to challenge the traditional patriarchal Qur’anic discourse by going back to the primary sources and interpreting them anew. Female scholars are assiduously working on extracting enshrined principles of human rights from the Qur’an and Hadiths and translating them into a system of legal reforms that can be implemented to effect hard fought for, long sought after gender equality.

21st century Muslim Feminists have an abundance of early role models to draw upon for genderrole- revolutionary inspiration. Sarah Joseph converted to Islam aged sixteen and as editor of Emel, a Muslim lifestyle magazine, is herself a role model for young British women. She explains how her religion provides “a unique example of empowered women from as far back as the 7th Century”. Nussaibah Younis is named after one such remarkable woman: Nussaibah Umm Imarah fought courageously for her God in the Battle of Uhud. Nussaibah had intended to be present to tend the wounded but when the men fled the battlefield in fear she entered combat, risking her own life to save that of the Prophet. The Prophet’s wives are further, fine examples of strong women. Mohammed’s first wife was also his employer before she proposed to him.

Education will be the driving force behind every progression for Muslim, or indeed, any women. Education not only opens the gateway into employment but it enlightens women with the tools to question the religious justifications utilised by their male oppressors. The Qur’an is unequivocal on the subject of education for both sexes. The first word of the Qur’an is ‘iqra’, meaning ‘read’. The Qur’an instructs, “Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every believer”. Thus under Islam education is not just a right or a privilege, it is a cradle to grave obligation for both men and women, regardless of what the Taliban might think.

In terms of issues related to women and Islam, the hijab is doubtless the most hotly debated topic and the most misconceived practice. In the Western world the headscarf has often been viewed as a garment oppressive to women and repressive to sexuality. But Westerners who peddle the ideal of ‘mini-skirt as liberation’ are entirely off the mark here. Their ethnocentric one size fits all approach to feminism is severely misplaced given that the roots and characteristics of Western patriarchy are distinct from those of patriarchy in the Muslim world. Historically, in the West a woman’s sexuality has always been denied. Christianity has a history of associating sex with guilt and shame and its hostility towards sexuality has in the past spilled over into hostility to women. Islam on the other hand has traditionally been far more honest, open and accepting of the sexuality of both men and women.

Islam has, since its inception, bestowed women with the right to sexual satisfaction from their husbands. The Prophet even advocated foreplay and stressed the importance of sexual relations within marriage. In the West the idea of women enjoying sex only became widely acceptable in the last half century. Prior to the sexual revolution of the 1960s, sex was merely seen as something you did while lying back and thinking of England.

With their sexuality affirmed in the private sphere Muslim women have no need to flaunt the power of their sexuality in the public sphere. As the Moroccan scholar, Fatima Mernissi, has argued, because of the different historical conceptions of female sexuality the act of Western women reclaiming their bodies has resulted in the public expression of their sexuality whereas in Islam it has been about modesty.

It is clear that the headscarf has been a liberating garment for Nussaibah Younis. Young women like Nussaibah are reclaiming the hijab, using it for its original purpose of giving women control over their bodies. It was her choice to wear it and she is glad of the decision. Nussaibah explains that it “forces men to treat me as an equal and to see me as a complete person rather than as a sexual target”. She argues, “By flaunting your sexuality you can go too far and be conforming to what men want. You’re then judged on and are competing on your sexuality and appearance. That’s inequality. Men don’t have that pressure to look like models, a pressure which can drive women to eating disorders and the surgeon’s knife.”

Fouzia Ahmed, who is currently launching ‘The F-word’ (the Oxford University Feminist Society) made the decision not to wear the headscarf. Her mother and sisters wear hijab but Fouzia felt that there was “no pressure” from her family to wear the headscarf. There is only one passage in the Qur’an relating to veiling, stating that the Prophet’s wives should be behind a hijab when conversing with his male guests. This has not been interpreted as binding since the passage is not thought to apply to women in general, and the language does not carry the textual stipulation that makes a verse obligatory. Problems have arisen when women are denied choice over their dress. In Saudi Arabia the ‘moral police’ enforce strict regulations on women’s dress but women like Fouzia also find instances such as the French ban on the hijab in classrooms infuriating on the basis that it “denies someone the right to be themselves”.

It is clear that Islam enshrines many rights for women, but nevertheless the Qur’an is far from reading like an Andrea Dworkin or Germaine Greer tome. There are some areas of the religion which women are particularly sensitive about. Polygamy is a big issue. Islam emerged at a time in Arabia when it was customary for men to have several wives and the Qur’an allows men to take up to four wives “if he can treat them equally”.

Women in both the West and Islamic worlds still have some way to come in terms of gender equality. But the principles of Islam and the example set by Western feminists puts Muslim women in good stead. As Audrey Shabbas, executive director of Arab World and Islamic Resources, has said, “Women are being oppressed in spite of Islam, not because of it