zia 3 16/10/2017 18:28 Page i zia 3 16/10/2017 18:28 Page ii “This sophisticated, sharp analysis of women’s activism in Pakistan, brings home the crucial relevance of secular women’s movement and working-class women’s activism, under religious militancy. An essen- tial read for those interested in better understanding the many dimensions of the sensitive subject, women’s political actions in Muslim contexts.” Haideh Moghissi, York University, Toronto, author of the award-winning Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism(OUP) “Through a critical feminist theorization of the relationship between Islam and feminism in Pakistan, Afiya Zia takes on the provocative questions of ‘Are secular politics, aims and sensibilities impossible, undesirable and impracticable for Muslims and Islamic states? Should Muslim women be exempted from feminist attempts at liber- ation from patriarchy and its various expressions, which include Islamic laws and customs as they are practiced in the present time?’ Her compelling response to these questions incites us brilliantly to read the religious challenges facing feminist studies and women’s movements beyond Pakistan. This book is a layered analysis of the retreat of secular and liberal feminist spaces while it also critiques the limits of liberal secularism.” Shahrzad Mojab, University of Toronto, co-author of Revolutionary Learning: Marxism, Feminism and Knowledge “Every once in a while there comes a book that is guaranteed to make its readers sit up and take note of the power of its argument, the clarity of its expression and the sheer audacity of its claims. This is that book. Indispensable for any understanding of the pernicious effects of an Islamically informed faith-based politics on women in Pakistan, it puts paid to the idea that such politics could ever serve as the engine of femi- nine agency. This is a rare and much-needed corrective against the present sweep of insidious currents hostile to the promise of a secular future for Pakistan and its women.” Farzana Shaikh, author of Making Sense of Pakistan zia 3 16/10/2017 18:28 Page iii “In this book Afiya Zia brings into play all her skills in incisive analysis and her ability to go to the heart of the matter without fear or reser- vations, for which she has built a solid reputation over the many years of advocacy of women’s rights. Faith and Feminism in Pakistanshould not fail to shorten the journey to salvation of not only Pakistan’s Muslim women but also of women in all Muslim majority countries.” I. A. Rehman, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award and the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award “This is a superb and much overdue study of the history of feminism in Pakistan and its involvement in the question of Islam in state and society. Afiya Zia brings a keen analytic eye to the task, without senti- mentalizing any of the actors or ideas concerned. But her own lifelong involvement in the feminist movement in the country adds a richness of texture to her discussion. This is a brave new contribution to the extensive discussion of Islam and gender across the disciplines, insisting that we view the women’s rights movement as a legitimate part of contemporary Muslim societies. It will make waves in the academic world and in politics, and rightly so.” Aamir R. Mufti is Professor of Comparative Literature, University of California, Los Angeles and author of Forget English! Orientalisms and World Literatures(Harvard University Press) “Pakistani women have been at the forefront of struggles for democ- racy and secular human rights. From her vantage point as member of the women’s movement, Afiya has documented the multiple challenges that we have faced as women activists during the ‘War on Terror’. Those who want to understand the tensions between faith and femi- nism in Pakistan should read her account in this book.” Asma Jahangir is a lawyer, co-founder and chair of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. She has served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and is recipient of the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Right Livelihood and Ramon Magsaysay Awards zia 3 16/10/2017 18:28 Page iv For Aadil and Emad zia 3 16/10/2017 18:28 Page v zia 3 16/10/2017 18:28 Page vi Copyright © Afiya S. Zia 2018. The right of Afiya S. Zia to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ISBN 9781845199166 (Cloth) ISBN 9781782845263 (PDF) First published 2018, in Great Britain by SUSSEX ACADEMIC PRESS PO Box 139 Eastbourne BN24 9BP Distributed in North America by SUSSEX ACADEMIC PRESS ISBS Publisher Services 920 NE 58th Ave #300, Portland, OR 97213, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Zia, Afiya Shehrbano, author. Title: Faith and feminism in Pakistan : religious agency or secular autonomy? / Afiya S. Zia. Description: Brighton : Sussex Academic Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017043011 | ISBN 9781845199166 (hardback : alkaline paper) Subjects: LCSH: Feminism—Pakistan. | Secularism—Pakistan. | Islam and secularism—Pakistan. | Feminism—Religious aspects—Islam. Classification: LCC HQ1745.5 .Z53 2018 | DDC 305.42095491—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017043011 Typeset and designed by Sussex Academic Press, Brighton & Eastbourne. Printed by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall. zia 3 16/10/2017 18:28 Page vii Contents Acknowledgements ix The Cover Illustrations xiii Introduction 1 Secular Possibilities 1 Waves of Influence 3 Postsecular, Retro-Islamist Recoveries 7 Methodology 10 Chapter Organisation 14 CHAPTER 1 Islam, Feminism and Secular Resistance 18 Islamic and Secular Feminisms 18 Islam and Feminism in Pakistan 25 CHAPTER 2 The Postsecular Turn and Muslim Women’s Agency 36 Muslim Women’s Agency 36 Pakistani Postsecular Scholarship 42 Recovering Postsecular Rights 46 Recovering Islamist Women’s Agency 50 Muslim Exceptionalism 55 CHAPTER 3 Beyond Faith and Agency: Working Women and Secular 60 Autonomy Women, Work and Religion 61 Working Women in Pakistan 64 Autonomy, Empowerment and the Threat to the Islamic 68 Gendered Order Lady Health Workers: The Neutral Interface 74 Silencing Secular Resistance 76 The Politics of Secular Autonomy 82 zia 3 16/10/2017 18:28 Page viii viii | Contents CHAPTER 4 The Limits of Religious Agency in Pakistan 86 What’s In It For Women? 86 Multiple Views of Agency 87 CHAPTER 5 The Limits of Capital: Commodifying Muslim Femininity 105 Capitalism as an Equal Opportunity Offender 105 The Veil as Commodity 109 Donor-driven Islam 115 Women’s Roles in Islamic Charities 122 Who Benefits? 124 CHAPTER 6 The Limits and Possibilities of Liberal Activism 128 Culture as Resistance Politics 128 A Liberal Dictatorship 129 Liberal Designs 131 Underestimating Liberal Political Possibilities 133 Feminists as “Native Informants” and “Imperialist 135 Collaborators” Sympathising with Men, Silencing Women 141 ‘Liberal’ is not a Class 146 Proposals for a Hybrid Feminism 149 CHAPTER 7 Beyond Faith and Fatalism: Political Agency and Women’s 154 Secular Movements Contested Expectations 156 The Rescue Narrative 165 Women in Organised Politics 167 The Okara Peasant Movement 172 Conclusion 179 Feminism and Faith-based Politics 179 Pakistani Liberalism/Secularism 184 Notes 187 Bibliography 207 Index 230 About the Author 235 zia 3 16/10/2017 18:28 Page ix Acknowledgements The kindest support to my person and feminist politics has been a mother who has nurtured and encouraged me and defended my pursuits through life and now does the same for my sons. Without her, I could not have made any professional progress or contributed to any political or scholarly cause. Thank you, Purveen, for literally every- thing. Both my grandmothers were amazing pioneers in their respective ways and I’m privileged to have spent time with my naani as she aged with wisdom and in the most graceful way a person could. My non-biological mothers and sisters have been invaluable allies and provide a loving haven since childhood: Anna (Afroze), Jaana (Farzana), Sarah Burki, Faryal Khan, Ambreen Marghoob, Batul Rizvi, Naila apa, Alia Fawad, Emma Ali and Sadia Mahmud are strong, independent, beautiful women who inspire me all the time. There is the extended family of matriarchs of the women’s move- ment in Pakistan who are (thankfully) too many to list, but Anis Haroon, Nasreen Azhar, Uzma Noorani, Rubina Saigol, Hina Jilani, Hilda Saeed, Kausar S. Khan, Nuzhat Kidvai, Fauzia Qureshi, Sheema Kirmani, Rukshanda Naz, Shaheen Sardar Ali, Mariam Bibi, and (the late) Razia Bhatti, as well as all the other dynamic women who are members of the Women’s Action Forum, have taught me the most important lessons of the unending feminist struggle for a more just and equal Pakistan. They encouraged me to debate and disagree as an equal. I am thrilled by the energy and spunk of the young women who are committed to feminist activism, including Amar Sindhu, Farieha Aziz, Qurat, Naghma, Malka, Rahima, Seema, Shirin, Natasha Noorani and many, many others. Feminists such as Saba Gul Khattak and Farzana Bari, Irum and Farah Zia inspire me for their accom- plishments and integrity and have been unwavering in their support and loyalty. Sisters, such as Ayesha Tammy Haq, who make ripples in a male-dominated society and Nazish Brohi, who make me laugh at myself, are my sounding boards and occupational oases. There is no way to quantify the value of Bushra’s and Sumera’s labour in my home. I owe them a lifetime of gratitude for their dual and triple labour and care-giving services and hope that my and their own children will recognise, value and respect their autonomy as working women.
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