Feminist Enough: Islamic Feminism as a Postcolonial Transition Towards Global Feminism

While Joseph Massad’s Desiring Arabs extends Edward Said’s study of Orientalism by incorporating a sexual dimension, it is less satisfying from a feminist and queer perspective. It struggles to reject Western Orientalist discourses while avoiding local nationalist frameworks that reinforce misogyny and homophobia. Islamic feminism challenges Massad’s critique by resisting both Western essentialism and patriarchal structures in the Middle East. Far from being contradictory, its existence defies binary classifications and Eurocentric taxonomies. I argue that Islamic feminism already embodies strong globality, positioning itself as a postcolonial transition toward a global feminism that transcends religious differences, not through secularization but by fostering shared ground while preserving diversity. This article reviews research on Islamic feminism over the past twenty-five years and addresses key criticisms, including religious belief and personal choice, its relationship with secular feminisms, veiling, theological debates, political and economic critiques, queerness, and Islam’s intersection with human rights.