ABSTRACT
The interweaving of traditional customs, mores, and beliefs with religion obscures the sources of both the law and ethnically defined or geographically specific frameworks outlining the parameters of a Muslim woman’s identity. From a post-oriental feminist perspective, secular feminists are both essentialising Islamic feminists and feeding into the Western discourse on Muslim women being passively co-opted in the male-dominated Islamist agenda. A deeply polarising hostility is increasingly entrenched between so-called secular versus Islamic feminists, who both claim to advance women’s rights, albeit in different ways. Feryal Cherif tackles the question of how Islamic tenets bear weight on the nature of nationality and inheritance rights, and the positive role that education and labour can play in moderating the effects of religious values. The emergence of extremist Islamic forces stands as a threat to gains women have achieved as well as to future possibilities of reform.
