Dr. Monia Acciari Interviews Sabina Shah
Originally written for
Wednesday 9th October 2013
Islamic Feminism and the Portrayal of the Historical Muslim Female on
Screen – in conversation with Sabina Shah, PhD candidate at Manchester
University
Your work is
extremely fascinating and, even more interesting is the social impact this work
could potentially have on the community. Interesting is the way you are
re-defining through your research (and practice based work) the role of female
Muslim identity, often misread within western societies. I would love to
ask you a few questions regarding this research, and specifically regarding
your practice based film, which is branching out and clearly speaks about your
topic.
Marc Shiller, in
trulyfreefilm.com explores a series of questions that every filmmaker should
ask himself or herself. Perhaps it is worth exploring with you some of these
questions:
1- What does the film say about the world we live in?
Yes Monia, this work has been purred on by my
own British Muslim heritage and visual arts background, my PhD project began as
a response to the damning portrayal of Islam as an extremist and sensationalist
phenomenon by the media. Terrorism and
veiling are nationally featured debates that frequently feature Islam as a
tyrannical and oppressive culture. Post
9/11 a generated fear and anxiety within national borders is also experienced
by citizens affected by global conflict living in the wake of the War on Terror. In Britain, not only British citizens are
affected by a multi-racial fear and anxiety, which is to be equally experienced
by Muslims living with the backlash affect of Islamophobia.
In a similar
vein, Muslim women scholar-activists discuss media coverage and western
scholarship to often view the Muslim woman as an oppressed mute victim that
‘asserts or implies that Islam itself oppresses women’.[1]
Hardly ever does the British media offer any visual evidence toward the
heterogeneity of the Muslim woman, either as an active participant within
society or as part of the Islamic faith.
Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies scholars Haifaa Jawad and Tansin Benn
give thought to images of Muslim women present within the public domain explaining
that:
"Muslim women form a highly diverse and complex group and assumptions
about them are often ill-conceived, mis-informed and grossly mis-represented. This is often reflected in imaged of them,
particularly in the West, as oppressed, powerless and victimised. The voices of Muslim women, striving to keep
their religious identity in Western contexts, are seriously under-represented
within academic research."[2]
This leads on to
the most important point of my research, which is the fact that Muslim women
have a rich and vibrant history and have their own form of agency. Both are topics that are often disregarded
and overlooked by the mainstream and society at large.
The aim of my
practice is to offer an alternative visual perspective to that of the oppressed
Muslim woman stereotype. By transmitting
evidence of Muslim women’s agency may enhance the image of the Muslim woman. The main reason to use practice-as-research is
because the creative practice provides a mode of communication that might
appeal to a wider audience outside of academia via: film festivals, broadcast,
Internet, and exhibition.
The use of film
opens Islam up to the mainstream and I believe this approach to filmmaking will
not only appeal to the Muslim demographic because of the Islamic subject matter
but also the general public who may be curious and want to understand more
about Islam and women’s roles within the faith.
Hopefully, the outcome of the film will engage an audience in an effort
to defuse both racial and gender prejudice by the sharing of culture and
knowledge about Islam that offers an alternative perspective to that of oppression
and extremism.
2- What universal themes are explored in your film?
Yes Monia, I must start by saying that the research
work of Muslim women scholar-activists provides the framework that serves as a
guide for the practice to follow. For
this study Muslim women’s agency is described as having three trajectories
being: gender-sensitive readings of the Qur’an; recovery and revival of Muslim
women’s history; and a critique on Muslim women’s representation. Characteristic of Muslim women
activist-scholarship these three directions are regularly employed to challenge
various forms of prejudice, be it racial, cultured or gendered, faced by Muslim
women within and outside the Muslim community.
The crux of Muslim women’s activism lies in that it adheres to the
divine textual framework of the Qur’an. The main factor addressed by these scholars is
that Islam does not oppress women but rather male interpretations of religious
texts that have been damaging toward the status of the Muslim woman within the
public and private sphere.[3] Muslim women scholar-activists argue that
Islam does not oppress women but a patriarchal system derived from male
interpretations of religious texts branching into Sharia Law, Hadiths (records and statements made by
the Prophet Muhammad) and Sunna
(practices of the Prophet) has proved detrimental toward women and the representation
of Islam.[4]
The creative
practice takes the form of a fifteen-minute stop-frame animation that sketches
a biographical account of Sultan Razia, who is both a historical and legendary
figure in India, the country in which she resided. During 634-638 Hejira (1236-1240 C.E) Razia
ruled the Sultante of Delhi, which was a vast Empire at the time. Razia was active in the affairs of State and
a great warrior trained in martial arts.
However, Razia was to face adversity from the Amirs based on gender
prejudice. In spite of the peoples’
support of Razia, the Amirs’ rivalry took the form of a coup d’état that led to
her death.
The film opens
with a warrior, dressed in gold armour, riding a horse through the forest,
passing historic monument Qutb Minar, on route to the palace. At the palace the guards on duty are dressed
in similar attire to that of the warrior who also have the lower part of their
faces covered with chainmail. When the
warrior enters the palace and approaches Sultan Iltutmish, lying on his
deathbed, the figure is revealed to be Razia, the daughter of the Sultan. By presenting Razia in this way may challenge
the viewers’ gendered expectation of the rider on horseback. The audience sees the character as female
only when Razia takes off the helmet.
Figure 1 - Warrior on horseback
Figure 2 - The veiled guards
Figure 3 - Razia removes her helmet
Sultan Iltutmish
tells Razia that it is his Will to have her succeed him. At this point Razia’s step-mother Shah Turkan
steps out from behind a curtain, where she has been eavesdropping, and asks
Iltutmish why he has not chosen their son Ruknuddin to be heir. The Sultan explains to Shah Turkan that their
son’s debauched manner and laziness is not a means of behaviour to rule an
Empire, whereas Razia has been an active administrator dealing with State
affairs and has experience with court proceedings.
Figure 4 – The Will of Sultan Iltutmish
Upon the death
of Iltutmish, Shah Turkan arranges a private word with the Prime Minister to
challenge the Sultan’s Will and position her son on the throne.
Figure 5 - Shah Turkan and the Prime Minister
The Prime
Minister thinks to himself that Ruknuddin as Sultan will serve as a puppet
leader to which he might pull the strings.
On the day of
coronation, when Razia enters the throne room, the Prime Minister announces
that the majority of the Amirs have voted for Ruknuddin to be Sultan. The argument the Prime Minister uses against
Razia’s rule is based on a Hadith
that states ‘a nation cannot prosper under a woman’. The Prime Minister’s use of the Hadith illustrates how religious texts
are taken out of context to suit male political agendas and support a
patriarchal order.
Figure 6 - A nation cannot prosper
The writing of
events for this scene are inspired and informed by: Fatema Mernissi’s
challenges toward this Hadith; Amina
Wadud’s Qur’anic reading of Bilqis (also known as the Queen of Sheba); and
Margot Badran’s comments on mischievous interpretations of religious texts. In further detail Mernissi explains this Hadith is often used to limit women’s
participation within society and thus sets out to investigate its origins. Mernissi discovers several reasons to dismiss
this Hadith based upon: the context
in which the narrator mentioned it; the character of the narrator; and
arguments posed by Islamic scholars’ regarding its weight.[5] In addition to challenge patriarchal ideas of
women in positions of power, Amina Wadud’s gender-sensitive reading of the
Qur’an offers examples of female leadership.
A Qur’anic account offers Bilqis as a resourceful leader of a
nation. Bilquis’ epiphany serves as a
wise and independent figure of peaceful politics as relayed to her by God. Instead of creating unnecessary bloodshed in
a battle she was destined to lose, Bilqis abdicates the throne. Androcentric interpretation relay this story
to demonstrate that a woman cannot be leader, instead of using Bilqis as a
universal model that all leaders might strive to emulate, as expressed in the
words of Wadud:
"The Qur’an shows that her judgment was better than the norm, and that
she independently demonstrated that better judgement. If her policies were feminine, then her faith
was feminine, which, by implication would indicate that masculinity is a disadvantage. Her faith and her politics may be specific to
females, but they both were better. They
indicate one who has knowledge, acts on it, and can therefore accept the
truth. This demonstration of pure wisdom
exhibited by a woman can hopefully be exhibited by a man as well."[6]
In the manner of
Mernissi and Wadud, the protagonist character Razia, uses these weightier arguments,
based on Ijtihad (independent
critical examination of religious texts), to challenge the Prime Minister’s
argument. Unfortunately for Razia, these
arguments fall on deaf ears and Ruknuddin is crowned sovereign.
Whilst Ruknuddin
is Sultan he continues to live a lavish lifestyle, which involves women,
drinking and a variety of expensive luxuries, never does he attend to his State
duties. To ensure her son remains Sultan
and maintain their position within the Royal household, Shah Turkan oversees
her son’s leadership and is the point of call for the Prime Minister to discuss
State matters. Ruknuddin’s unorthodox
manner begins to annoy the Amirs, who discuss the possibility of his
replacement. Furthermore, his lavish
lifestyle, which is funded by the people with a constant rise in taxes, has
made Ruknuddin unpopular with the citizens of the Empire.
Figure 7 – Sultan Ruknuddin’s lavish lifestyle
Fearful
of the Amirs removal of Rukuddin from office, Shah Turkan orders her servants
and soldiers to seize Qutbuddin, the eight-year-old son of Iltutmish, and his
mother. They are thrown into a dungeon
where Shah Turkan orders the boy to be blinded and the mother executed for
treason. Moreover, for Shah Turkan the
execution was a message to scare the Amirs and the consequences for considering
a new Sultan. After evening prayers at
the mosque, Razia heads out onto the street to talk to the people of
Delhi. They speak of their unhappiness
with the drastic rise in taxes toward non-Muslims. Iltutmish’s dear friend, Tajuddin finds Razia
and tells her of the execution. In
solidarity, Razia with the people go to the palace gates and demand to speak
with the Sultan.
Figure 8 - At the palace gates
The
soldier tells Razia she is in great danger and requests the people to leave to
avoid the wrath of Shah Turkan.
Meanwhile, Shah Turkan looks down on the scene occurring at the palace
gates from her window. Seeing Razia as a
threat Shah Turkan begins to plot Razia’s death and calls her servants to carry
out her dirty work. Armed with shovels
the servants begin to dig a ditch in the riding ground, where Razia rides her
horse every morning. On the way to the
stables, the palace equerry Yaqut sees the servants digging at the ground and
watches from behind a bush. Hearing the
servants talk about Shah Turkan’s plot he immediately informs Razia.
Figure 9 - Yaqut informs Razia of Shah Turkan’s plot
The next
morning the riding ground is buzzing with people who have been told of Shah
Turkan’s plot by Razia’s friends. Razia
goes to take a jump but her horse rears and does so again at a second attempt. Razia asks the Prime Minister to check the
ground and he reveals the ditch. The
people call for Shah Turkan and Ruknuddin to be brought to justice and Razia to
be their new Sultan. Ruknuddin and Shah
Turkan’s reign was to last six months in total.
Although
a wicked and formidable character Shah Turkan wielded power through the guise
of her son, such female figures in leadership Mernissi eloquently summarises
their narratives:
In
the past there have been women who have led Muslim states, but they have been
rubbed out of official history. Some
received the reins of power by inheritance; others had to kill the heirs in
order to take power. Many themselves led
battles, inflicted defeats, concluded armistices. Some had confidence in competent viziers,
while others counted only on themselves.
Each had her own way of treating the people, of rendering justice, and
administering taxes. Some manage to
stay a long time on the throne, while others scarcely had the time to settle
down. Many died in a manner of the
caliphs (either Orthodox, Umayyad or Abbasid) that is poisoned or stabbed. Rare were those who died peacefully in their
beds.[7]
As
Sultan, Razia appoints Tajuddin as her advisor and Yaqut as the Amir of
Amirs. Yaqut’s promotion did not bode
well with the Amirs’ and they were equally disgruntled with the abolition of
the levy on non-Muslims. But for the
people Razia proved to be a fair and just ruler. Razia endorsed the arts and championed
education with the opening of schools and libraries.
*
I
would just like to point out that this part of the story is currently in the
process of film production.
On the
battlefield she kept the Mongol invasions at bay. Whilst Razia was Sultan the country
prospered. In Razia’s company the Prime
Minister passes judgment on her character based upon her wearing of the
veil. In previous scenes the manner in
which Shah Turkan wears the veil is very different to Razia. For Shah Turkan the veil serves as a status
symbol that signifies her importance. Razia
not wearing a veil is to illustrate Muslim women’s choice to veil or not. So synonymous have Islam and veiling become,
the generally accepted idea is that the veil is an Islamic custom. Womens studies scholar Leila Ahmed has
discovered that veiling was in fact a European custom, originating in Greek
Hellenic society, which gradually spread to the Middle East.[8] For the ancient Greeks the veil was only to be
worn by women belonging to the upper crust of society. In the Middle East the custom became a
fashionable status symbol signifying wealth and importance. Women of all faiths
in the Middle East, whether Jew, Christian or Muslim wore the veil, only the
poor, prostitutes and servants did not. Furthermore,
political scientist Katherine Bullock elucidates Hindus in Northern India to
wear the veil, as did the Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Jews and
Christians long before the arrival of Islam. As soon as colonialism took hold
of the Middle East, the result of this foreign influence may have led the
Christian and Jewish community to slowly abandon their veils.[9]
Therefore, veiling appears to be a tradition that has remained with the Muslim
community. In regards to religious
texts, political activist Nawal El Saadawi explains that many non-Muslims and
even some Muslims believe that the Qur’an imposes the wearing of the veil on
women. Saadawi debunks any notion on veiling as compulsory for Muslim women,
arguing that one may search in vain through the Qur’an’s many verses for such
an imposition.[10] The Qur’an suggests, however, that women’s
garments are to be of modest means. Those Muslim women who choose to wear the
veil do so out of piety and modesty. In
this scene debates on the veil are highlighted, and comparisons offered with the
full niqab that Shah Turkan wears belonging
to Arab tradition, whereas Razia’s dupatta
(a light scarf) is consistent with the Indian peninsula.
In spite
of Razia’s merits, the Prime Minister continues to look for his opportunity to
seize power and calls upon his close allies to assist him in the matter. With his allies the Prime Minister forms an
army to take Razia by surprise. A battle
ensues and Razia dies with an arrow struck through her heart. The ending of the story has proved to be
problematic as historical accounts differ.
Some say she died in battle and some mention that a peasant murdered her. The chosen ending is to underline her bravery
as a fierce warrior and bring the film full circle for the opening sequence
Razia is seen riding her horse and at the end Razia is to die on her
horse. To condense Razia’s narrative the
love triangle between Razia, Altunia and Yaqut has been omitted from the
animation. There is nothing concrete to
suggest Razia’s love affair with Yaqut but sources do refer to the Amirs
slandering their friendship using the caste system against her. Whilst shaping
the narrative I wanted to give Razia a happy ending and not offer such adversity
and tragedy throughout the story.
However, the adversity Razia faces offers a means to illustrate Muslim
women’s agency in challenging gender and racial prejudice.
3- List ten or more keywords to describe your film.
Agency,
Historical, Women, Islam, Recovery, Filmmaking, Equal Rights, Research,
Animation, Alternative, Subversive
4- What emotions do you feel your film brings forth in viewers?
I hope the
film will illustrate the heterogeneity of the Muslim woman. Not only do Muslim
women have an imbedded history with the development of Islam but also
historically Muslim women have and continue to hold positions of power within
society. Thereby using the film medium I
hope to debunk such myths about Islam and stereotypes associated with Muslim
women.
For a
younger audience I hope the animation will fill the racial and cultural gap of
representation upon the screen. For
instance cultural studies scholar Jack Shaheen points out that:
Muslim
mothers, too, strive to shield their children.
Citing scores of old motion pictures being telecast on cable systems,
along with cartoons, re-runs of television dramas and sit-coms, plus newly
created TV programs and TV movies-of-the-week, they fear that stereotyping has
become more pervasive than ever.[11]
As
animation is often a feature of children’s
entertainment, this film may resonate with Muslim girls who may like to identify themselves with the story of a
Muslim princess that represents their own ethnic group and culture, instead of
being subjected to racial stereotypes within the media, particularly
cartoons. However, the creative practice
is not made specifically with children in mind.
I hope that the film may engage with an adult audience as well in an
effort to defuse racial and gender prejudice. The use of the film medium to illustrate the
Muslim woman as an intrinsic and vital part of the heritage of Islam and
society just may offer a refreshing take on Islam that breaks away from Muslim
women stereotypes supported by common topics of veiling and extremism.
5- And also, do you think your film (together with your research)
embeds within its narrative a particular emotion?
Viewing and
reading sensationalist stories by the media about Islam and veiled Muslim
women, myself being a Muslim woman found such stories difficult to relate
to. Media images are very different to
my upbringing and understanding of Islam and the important role women have
played within the faith be it religious or historical. Undertaking this PhD project provides me with
an opportunity to explore further my Muslim heritage and culture. Whilst reading the texts that form the
literature review for my PhD, which also forms the foundations of the creative
practice, many emotions are stirred within me.
I am overwhelmed at the level of eloquence Muslim women
scholar-activists use when discussing their research. What I find frustrating is that these scholars
are not given the airtime by the media to communicate their gender-sensitive
readings of the Qur’an and history to a wider audience. Rather the media tends to focus on patriarchal
and extremist interpretations that only appear to enforce a particular image of
the faith.
In regards
to gender-sensitive interpretations of the Qur’an a leading scholar is Amina
Wadud. Wadud points out that patriarchy
within the Islamic faith is untenable. During a talk at the International
Congress on Islamic Feminism, Wadud demonstrated an example of Qur’anic
discourse to challenge enforced patriarchy. By presenting two models: a
patriarchal model against a contrasting Tawhid
(the unicity of Allah and the oneness of God) paradigm, Wadud illustrates her
argument:
Figure 10 - The patriarchal and Tawhid model
For Wadud the patriarchal model
does not give females direct access to Allah.
Males are placed directly below Allah and above females. This categorically violates the notion of
creation and khalifa (agency). Whereas, the Tawhid model, drawn directly from the Qur’an’s foremost and most
important logos of God being Sura Fatiha, asserts the unity and omnipresence of
Allah. The aligned dots represent either
male or female with the horizontal line of reciprocity. The roles, unlike the patriarchal model, may
be exchanged without the loss of gender being superior over the other, whilst
Allah remains integral. Women are
intended to be primordially, cosmologically, eschatologically, spiritually and
morally a full human being, equal to all who accept Allah, Muhammad as the
Prophet and Islam as the religion.[12] Thus, Wadud suggests reforms in structures to
acknowledge the equal significance of women’s creation, ways of thinking and
being, and equal responsibility in judgment, in order to move beyond the structures
of inequality. For Wadud establishing a
system of social justice that practices mahaida,
which translated means the relationship of reciprocity and equality between men
and women, is key.
Within the
film the Prime Minister is illustrative of how religious texts are manipulated
to suit his needs. Writing these scenes,
where Razia’s knowledge of religious texts that challenge patriarchy is to be ignored
by those around her, has been extremely difficult and frustrating, as I want
her to triumph against all odds. Such
scenes appear to echo how Muslim women and their profound knowledge of Islam
are ignored in favour of a particular view of Islam, be it of a patriarchal
form that only substantiates the media’s approach to the faith. As a consequence of reading Muslim women’s scholar-activist
texts that are informative about women’s rights in Islam, I feel frustrated
when writing this film, when all I want to do is quash misogyny. The way in which Razia is portrayed in the
film I do not think illustrates my frustration due to her patience and strength
of character. If any emotions are to be
evoked from the film I hope the audience are able to empathise with Razia and
be cognizant to an alternative portrayal of Islam that Razia encapsulates.
6- What are your research and film’s strengths?
Before Fatema
Mernissi embarks upon her investigation of historical Muslim female heads of
State, in The Forgotten Queens of Islam,
hypothesises that woman as heads of state either never existed or that in the
past there have been women who led Muslim states, but have been rubbed out of
official history. [13] The aim for Mernissi’s revivalist project is
to ‘bring to light one of the most fascinating purges in world history: the
liquidation of a series of heads of state, passed over in silence’.[14]
Mernissi
discovers a mass of literature lying dormant scattered across the four corners
of the earth. These texts express the
significant contributions Muslim women have made within society, either as
religious contributors to the Islamic faith or as political agents and leaders of vast Empires. In so doing, Mernissi uncovers scholarly work
throughout the ages collecting dust in libraries and special collections. Mernissi expresses the importance of
disseminating nisa’ist research (a term that Mernissi adopts to
mean feminist in Arabic from the word nisa that translates as women in
English), through a variety of means, particularly the media, in order to fulfil
the gaps in history to challenge the role and status of the Muslim woman.
By using the
film medium to provide an example of Muslim women as Heads of State answers
Mernissi’s call for a wider dissemination of nisa’ist research. Animation
as an expressive cine dialect evokes an attractive way of illustrating Muslim
women’s agency that might appeal to a wider audience outside academia. The use of animation opens Islam up to the
mainstream and I believe this approach to filmmaking will not only appeal to
the Muslim demographic because of the Islamic subject matter but also to the
general public who may be curious and want to understand more about Islam and
women’s role within the faith.
7– What are your film’s weaknesses?
Being a
self-funded PhD student has been very difficult and depressing at times. Although I believe my project is important in
order to challenge racial, gendered and cultural stereotypes associated with
Islamophobia within a multicultural society, especially post 9/11, the lack of
support from film bodies, broadcast associations and the AHRC via the
university body are not in support of such a project. As a consequence I question my ability as a
filmmaker and researcher and whether I can do the subject any justice. I feel this rejection is a reflection of how
Muslim women-activist scholars research is often ignored. In regards to the film medium the lack of
support mirrors the silencing of an alternative voice. To offer an alternative perspective and get
these stories in to the public domain is a battle of perseverance. Resourcefulness is key and the
self-satisfaction in making the film and having belief in my work, when others
do not, provides an inner strength that is fundamental to not quit, when trying
to strive for racial and gendered equality.
Besides the
lack of funding, another weakness to the film and filmmaking process may be the
time the animation actually takes to produce.
Not only do I have to theorise, analyse and discuss the relationship
between theory and practice, I have to make all the sets, props and characters
for the film, all of which have been researched for historical accuracy. The stop-frame animation process, which
consists of a frame at a time to capture motion, for this film means each frame
has to be treated individually in the post-production process, for instance frames
require: colour correcting and the juxtaposing of images against a background
made in Photoshop. Therefore, for a
lone-academic filmmaker the filmmaking process requires a lot of time.
Figure 11 –
Research notes
Figure 12 –
Experimental pieces and storyboard
Figure 13 –
Scriptwriting and receipts
Figure 14 –
Film documentation
Figure 15 –
Storyboard images
Figure 16 -
Making of the puppets
Figure 16 –
Painted papier-mâché heads
Figure 17 –
Making of the Puppets
Figure 18 –
The making of the film set designed with a shadow puppet screen
Figure 19 –
Film production
8 – What are the unique opportunities with your film?
The interest my
research has captured so far has been with National Grassroots
Organisations. For example, I have met
with ‘Femin Ijtihad’ and continue correspondence with them.[15] They have been kind enough to feature my work
on their website and have approached me to find a means through illustration to
visually explain the workings of Islamic Law.
Femin Ijtihad themselves use Islamic jurisprudence to secure education
for women and provides legal aid in Afghanistan.
Figure 20 - Femin Ijtihad website
Outside the
context of my research but still through visual arts practice during my PhD I
have had the opportunity to work in post-war Sri Lanka with ‘Tea Leaf Vision’. Tea Leaf Vision is a school for 18-25 year
olds stuck within the caste system. The
school offers the chance to learn English, IT skills and provides scholarships
to those who want to go to university.
Here I designed a lesson plan for students to create shadow puppet plays
to illustrate and discuss emotional health issues within the community and
various forms of mediation dealing with: genocide; rape; alcoholism; and both
physical and mental abuse. These plays
were then shown to the village one evening.
Figure 21 - Tea Leaf Vision shadow puppet workshop
Further
opportunities arising from my film may be that the film will be screened at
various venues both nationally and internationally. As I keep emphasising, most of all I hope to
offer a subversive image of the Muslim woman and Islam. In this vein I intend
to continue making films about Muslim women branching out into documentary filmmaking.
9– How do you redefine the notions of identity, and how do you speak
about south Asian culture?
Ideas surrounding
identity conversely run parallel with issues of representation. Often I tend to
ask myself these questions when reviewing media representations of race:
Whose stories are being told, and by
whom for whom?
How do countries broadcast their culture
within and outside their borders?
How do countries broadcast other
countries and cultures as being and why?
These
questions are very similar and stem from social theorist Michel Foucault’s
three questions that underline the study of representation, both politically
and socially:
Who is being represented and by whom?
What are the social and textual power
relations that come into play in the act of representing?
Why certain groups have been included
and excluded, marginalised and reconfigured through representation?
And to
quote sociology and film studies scholar Rajinder Dudrah:
"Representations matter because, in part, through
these forms of socio-cultural coding and recording we tell stories, or at least
fragments of stories about ourselves and about others. The study of representation enables us to
decipher the kinds of stories and related images that emerge and their overall
impact in society. One can cite here,
for example, the historical power relations between black and white social
groups and how these have manifested themselves through representation."[16]
Perceptions
on how Muslim women view themselves and Islam appear to be strikingly different
to the stereotype commonly presented within western ideologies, inclusive of
public opinion, academic texts and political agendas. A common perception in western
thought is that Islam is the cause of oppression toward the Muslim woman. Previous academic
texts and feminist thinking have dominated in their representations of race and
concepts of gender, often convinced that women have no rights in Islam.[17]
Margot Badran leading scholar on the development of
Islamic Feminism explains this point further:
"Feminism in
Islam has long been presumed non-existent by most in the West, who have
insisted that “feminism and Islam” is an oxymoron. In their view Muslims were incapable of
producing feminism, and “Islam” itself would not allow it."[18]
This critique
highlights common perceptions of Islam as oppressive and Muslim women incapable
of forming their own agency. Therefore,
Islamic Feminism within this perspective of western thought is an oxymoron
because: if women have no rights in Islam, how can Islam be associated with
feminism? Whereas Muslim women
scholar-activists argue that the oxymoron cannot be substantiated for the history and development of Islam had provided
women their full rights, more than fourteen centuries ago.[19]
The advent of Islam, which attempted to
improve the woman’s condition, may be considered as women’s liberation. This is one reason why Muslim women choose to
identify themselves as Muslim and not as feminists because the liberation of
women is perceived by many to be ingrained in Islam and the Qur’an. From this perspective, Islam and feminism are
synonymous and might be considered the liberation of women from within an
Islamic framework.
As the
stereotype continues to overshadow the heterogeneity of the Muslim woman the
most current and significant discussion, presented by contemporary scholarship
and grassroots organisations, is the status and identity of the Muslim woman in
a global and contemporary context.[20] In this debate Muslim women scholar-activists
have seized the reins to challenge prejudice and source the cause for such
discrimination. However, in spite of
huge strides taken in activist-scholarship to address the Muslim woman’s
condition, the opinion of Islam as the perpetrator for the ill treatment of the
Muslim woman persists. What
many scholars point out is the construction of stereotypes are designed to
solicit certain political and social agendas.
For example political scientist
Joan Wallach Scott draws on the
war with Afghanistan and Iraq where the American administration justified these
crusades on the behalf of women’s emancipation.[21] Pre 9/11 the rights of women living in these
countries were of no concern to the Bush administration.[22] A particular vision was created to portray women
as victims and in need of saving by the West.
To paint all Muslim women across the world with the same stereotyped
brush is unfeasible but unfortunately the oppressed image is one that has
become generally accepted and repeated.
Recovering the identity of the Muslim woman lies at the heart of many
Muslim women-scholar activists work and important to
my work is to illustrate the heterogeneity of the Muslim woman. Such diversity I hope is apparent in the
animation, characterised by Shah Turkan, Razia and a schoolteacher, through
their dress, vocation and approach to life.
Figure 22 –
Shah Turkan
Figure 23 –
Schoolteacher
Even though
underlining of the creative practice is to illustrate gender-sensitive readings
of Islam and history, I do not want Islam to be a forced feature on the
characters within the animation. I hope
that Islam within the film is illustrative of a personal relationship with God,
as evidenced by Razia’s spirituality.
Figure 24 –
Razia praying at the Mosque
In regards
to South Asian culture I want the film to depict the diversity of Indian people
inhabiting the same space, living equally side-by-side. Somewhat akin to ideas of multiculturalism
and cosmopolitanism, the animated characters of Delhi have their own beliefs,
religious practices and cultures. To show
this I mainly use costumes along with the figures being sculpted and painted to
have their own individual features.
Figure 25 –
From left to right: a Sikh gentleman; a Muslim gentleman; a Hindu lady; and a
Hindu gentleman
10 – Do you see yourself, being part of a new wave of indie south
Asian/British cinema, which subverts stereotypes? And how?
My father is
a Pakistani born British citizen for he was born in 1936 when the British ruled
India, before the division of India and Pakistan. My English mother identifies herself as being
Muslim and because of my parental backdrop I classify myself as a mixed-race
British Muslim. I do not consider myself
as part of a new wave of British South Asian filmmakers, only due to the subject
matter and aesthetic approaches I use with the film medium. Indie South Asian
British filmmakers; screenwriters and novelists who have contributed to film
and come to my mind are: Pratibha Palmer; Gurinder Chadha; Meera Syal; Hanif
Kureshi; Zadie Smith; and Monica Ali. The
majority of feature films associated with these artists may be considered to
incorporate a realist approach. To
mention but a few: East is East
(1999), Bend it Like Beckham (2002); Bhaji on the Beach (1993); and TV series
like The Buddha of Suburbia (1993) and
White Teeth (1992) all appear to
based upon South Asian experience of living in the UK. These films provide an example of what TV and
cinema viewing was once like in Britain during the nineties and early noughties
but such racially sensitive programming I think has all but vanished from
British screens. At this present time I
do not feel there is a wealth of talented screenwriters or filmmakers who are
being utilised by the Britih film and media corporations as once was.
Figure 26 – Sabina with Sultan Razia
I would like to thank very much Sabi (PhD candidate at the University of Manchester, UK), for her invaluable contribution, which explores a neglected area of cultural studies. Her research is inspiring, and brings further reflections on the way emotions moves across discipline smoothly building significances to the reader of this blog.
Figure 27 - Dr. Monia Acciari
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] Amina Wadud (2000) Alternative
Qur’anic Interpretation and the Status of Muslim Women. In G. Webb (Ed.) Windows of Faith – Muslim Women
Scholar-Activists in North America. New York: Syracuse University Press. Chap.1,
Pp.1.
[2] Haifa Jawad and Tansin Benn (Eds.)
(2003) Muslim Women in the United Kingdom and Beyond – Experiences and Images. Woman and Gender – The Middle East and the
Islamic World, Vol. 2. Boston: Brill. Pp.xiv.
[3] Fatema Mernissi (1996) Women’s Rebellion and Islamic Memory.
London: Zed Press.
[4] Mohja Kahf (2000) Braiding the Stories - Women’s Eloquence in
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Women Scholar – Activists in North America. New York: Syracuse University
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[5] Fatema Mernissi (1987) The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist
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[6] Amina Wadud (1999) Qur’an and Women – Rereading the Sacred Text
from a Woman’s Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[7]
Fatema Mernissi (1993)
The Forgotten Queens of Islam.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Pp10.
[8] Leila Ahmed (1992) Women and Gender in Islam – Historical Roots of a Modern Debate.
London: Yale University Press. Pp.28.
[9] Katherine Bullock (1999) The
Politics of the Veil. PhD Thesis: University of Toronto. Pp.146.
[10] Nawal El Saadawi (1982) Woman and Islam.
In Al-Hibri, A. Y. (Ed.) Women and Islam,
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[11]
Jack Shaheen (1997)
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[12]
Amina Wadud (1999) Qur’an and Women – Rereading the Sacred Text
from a Woman’s Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp.42.
[13] Fatema Mernissi (1993) The Forgotten Queens of Islam. Oxford:
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[14] Ibid
[15] Femin Ijtihad (2013) [online]. [Accessed 26th September
2013]. Available from World Wide Web: http://feminijtihad.com/2013/02/07/techniques-for-engaging-men-in-womens-activism/
[16] Rajinder Dudrah (2010) Haptic
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[17] Jamillah Karim (2005) Voices of
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(Ed.) Muslim Networks – From Hajj to Hip
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[18] Margot Badran (2009) Feminism in Islam – Secular and Religious Convergences.
Oxford: Oneworld Publications. Pp.1.
[19] Azizah Al-Hibri (Ed.) (1982) Women and Islam. Oxford: Pergamon Press
Ltd. Pp.212-213.
[20] International Congress on Islamic Feminism (2005) [online]. Catalan
Islamic Council [Accessed 18th October 2008]. Available from World Wide Web: http://feminismeislamic.org/home/
[21] Joan Wallach Scott (2007) The Politics of the Veil. Princeton: Princeton University
Press. Pp.8-9.
[22] Ibid