Here's the thing, though… Islam is a religion, and feminism is a political movement. I get that this will trigger the "Islam is the way of life" derailment comments, as if those will answer for their own complicity in the everyday misogynistic behavior they've accepted as part of Islam. Yet here we are, so hear me out.
When I'm out there surrounded by people from all walks of life with different political alignments and different stages of iman, I use "feminism" when talking about real policies that affect my life, other women's lives, and men's lives alike. When I'm surrounded by Muslims who come to certain gatherings with a "Muslim" label and their "Muslim" identity, then I use "Islam." Do you get what I'm saying? Or is unity in diversity a strange concept in the modern Ummah's political da'wah vocabulary?
When you really think about it, feminism and Islam are labels in women's rights discourse that hold their own traditions and values, but do they speak to only one demographic? No. If Islam is the way of life, if Islam is rahmatan lil alamin, then does it matter if someone translates Islam into a certain political language that, in practice, is basically Islamic? If the roots are in tawheed, if the trunk is justice, if the shade reaches all who are oppressed, then let it be called Islam, and may it look like feminism, taste like liberation, and walk like truth.
The focus shouldn't be on the name or label; it should be the mercy. The focus should be the freedom of every woman, regardless of belief, past, body, or banner. We don't ask Islam to conform to feminism or vice versa. What we should ask is for Muslims to embody the Islam that liberates.
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