The Rise of Islamic Feminism in Kuwait

Abstract

The paper examines the emergence of Islamic Feminism in Kuwait, based on the writings and personal accounts of leading Islamist women activists. It begins with an analysis of the socio-political factors that led to the creation of Islamic groups in the 1980s. It then outlines the role of women in the growth of the Islamic movement and shows how the contradictions between women’s contributions to the Islamic cause and the secondary role they play within the Islamic organizations controlled by men were conducive to the rise of Islamic feminism in the 1990s. The paper also demonstrates how the involvement of islamist women in the struggle for suffrage forging a coalition with liberal women activists had played a decisive role in changing the position of islamist groups towards the enfranchisement of women. The last two sections of the paper look at the participation of islamist women activists in the re-definition of the dichotomy between the public and private spheres and at their involvement in the process of interpretation of Islamic sources, known as Ijtihâd. The paper concludes that the engagement of islamist women activists in the discourse of women’s rights can be powerful agent of change towards a more egalitarian society.