INTERESTINGLY enough, the word ‘feminism’ immediately summons unrelenting images of angry, men-hating women but when you include ‘Muslim’, the combination of both words will guarantee raised eyebrows and confusion.

In some Muslim circles, the movement may be perceived as redundant, unnecessary and a complete waste of energy. Like it or not, patriarchal beliefs are so deeply embedded in our society, some women have already begun to internalise sexism without even realising it.

Although, women’s liberation in Islam dates back over 1,400 years ago, simply dispersing such rhetoric do very little to alleviate our distress and remove misogyny from our society.

Majid Khadduri, an Iraqi born academic and founder of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Middle East Studies programme noted that under the Arabian pre-Islamic law of status, women had virtually no rights. It was only after the introduction of Islam that the roles of women had gone through several significant reforms especially in matters concerning marriage, inheritance, prohibition of female infanticide and in general, recognising women’s full rights.

However, Muslim women in modern day societies often find ourselves in rather unnervingly awkward situations where we are forced to live in a system that is tainted with misinterpretation and misrepresentation.

Right now, our greatest mission is to separate culture and religion, where one is perceived as a set of traditions made up by humans and another, a sacred system of beliefs. There are those who support movements that support recognition of basic human rights – equal pay, right to education, impartiality and social justice – while some will greet those same movements with animosity, anger and distrust.

Usually, discourse on religious issues is never met with intelligent or well informed arguments; reforms are regarded as rebellion and raising questions are considered to be challenging the word of God.

Often, we witness how women’s issues are trivialised into whether or not to shake hands with non- muhrim men or what is acceptable for Muslim female athletes to wear during competitions. However, major issues such as child marriages, incest and domestic violence are simply ignored. Debates on exactly what constitutes equality and how this effects overall human relationships is simply not talked about conscientiously.

For instance, while domestic violence is wrong (and should be criminalised) because it creates a lot of emotional and physical suffering, there is a fundamental belief that a man has every right to do so because his wife is regarded as his property to do as he pleases.

The widespread teaching of Islamic authoritarianism has given a platform for extremist groups like IS and Taliban to grow, where absolute control of women are seen to be one of their main priorities. The abuse of Islamic theology does nothing but promote Islamophobia and hatred, therefore, the onus is on us – the liberals, the progressives and the moderate Muslims to stand up against this idiocy.

Nevertheless, there is always a silver lining to everything – globally, we see a rise in Islamic feminism and will certainly see stronger support as the years progress.  However, this can only be achieved if our society is willing to map out strategies and methodological analysis.

This movement will one day put an end to all the suffering misogyny has brought upon us and hopefully, someday soon, we will see an increase of healthy discourse that engages text, intellectualism, tradition and social justice.

If this is the future we envision and aspire to achieve, all is not lost and the prospects look undeniably bright but right now, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done and Muslim feminists are the only ones who can directly undo the destructive ideologies that have seemingly trickled into our society. – July 22, 2017.

* Syerleena is a councillor at the Penang Island City Council (MBPP). She is a Malaysian who believes that our life experiences shape us into fascinating beings.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.