Using Progressive Muslim Thought to Take Down Patriarchy

Abstract

As someone who has been following academic debates on gender and religion for close to two decades (and publishing on them for over a decade), especially in relation to the Islamic tradition but also as a husband, father, and a concerned citizen of the world and concerned about what the future holds, I have come to the conclusion that there are three main pillars in which patri-archy and its worldview are rooted. Namely, 1. Traditional masculinity, 2. ‘Gender oppositionality,’ and 3. Patriarchal honour.

In my considered view, it is these three con-cepts and the various assumptions that under-pin them, that are responsible for the con-struction of beliefs, values, and practices that have resulted in various forms of exploitative and highly asymmetrical power relationships in general and systematic marginalisation of women’s rights, experiences, and voices in the construction of (religious) knowledge and the formation of (religious) ethics in particular. The aim of this article is to explain the world- view and the ‘logic’ behind these concepts.