Fatima Mernissi

The Book by Fatima Mernissi “The Veil and the Male Elite” has challenged the misogynists regarding the rights and role of women. The title of the book itself “The Veil and the Male elite” implies the word “veil”, in other words hijab, as a symbol of oppression. The arguments of Mernissi focus mainly on the hijab and the role of women as Muslims. She uses both the Islamic reference and her ideas on the interpretations on the hadit given by the scholars. Islam does provide equality regarding the impact of the text of women rights in Islam, but this concept has now been misinterpreted. Talking about the role of women role in Islam, Islam has established the roles of inspirational women such as Khadija, Aisha and Umm Salama. Moreover, “women rights” in Islam is provided with the information of Prophet Mohammed’s wives and the roles women played in the “golden period” magnify the complexity of roles of women or how that is portrayed. Interpretation of the Quran by the scholars and the feminist interpretation of Mernissi regarding the role of women are completely contradicting the equality of sexes. This misinterpretation comes along when the question of “women going to the war” regard women as plunderers. Another …show more content…
The role played by the wives of Muhammad and the women in the golden period is not highlighted but the age of Aisha’s marriage, hijab and the battle of camel is stretched to such a point that it only gives superiority to the Male elites. The fact about Aisha marrying at the age of nine is interpreted as an age that a girl should be married which acts as a catalysis regarding at what ideal age a girl can marry. However, on the other hand, the unnecessary attention given to Aisha leading the Battle of camel is misinterpreted by Al Afghani and it states, “women being the ill omen” (p.6). This contradicts the idea of what women can be perceived in the eyes of different