Can you be Muslim and Feminist? Is ‘Secular’ Feminism Islamophobic?

Recent years have seen a revival of feminism in the UK as young women have become increasingly interested in feminist ideas as a way of making sense of their lives. As in decades past, feminism in the 2000s is heterogeneous and comprises strands of broad left, radical and liberal thinking while also being divided along lines of race/ethnicity, sexuality and age/generation. In addition to this, feminism in the 2000s has given rise to cleavages between ‘secular feminists’ and those who live their feminism through their faith. The sharpest arguments within feminism today include those between secular and Muslim feminists. While many of the tensions within current feminism have been the object of expanding study, differences between Muslim and secular feminists are examined and reported infrequently. This paper firstly explores the differences and tensions which have built up between these two strands of feminism, in the post 9/11 context where Muslims are accused of failing to integrate in British society, supporting fundamentalist Islam and threatening liberal democracy; and where austerity policies have increased competition for scarce resources between different societal groups. It considers the arguments that each side has used to challenge the other. Thus, secular feminists have argued that Islam and feminism are incompatible because Islam oppresses women; that Muslim feminists are colluding with jihadis when they defend Islamic dress or refuse to call for an outright ban of Shariah councils. Secular feminists, on the other hand, are accused of telling Muslim women what’s good for them, denying them agency and of aligning themselves with far right rhetoric and racism. Secondly, we ask if the politics of austerity have heightened tensions between these feminisms. Finally, this paper asks if women can be Muslim and feminist; if secular feminism is Islamophobic.