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What is it about the patriarchy that emboldens men to feel they have the right to regulate a woman's body, to decide how the body should be clothed, to control the decisions that body has the right to make or how the body chooses to express its multiple facets of being?
Whether it be in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United States, Hungary, Russia, India or France, the common thread that runs through this sense of entitlement to dominate is a patriarchal system. A system that allies itself with authoritarianism and tyranny and then proceeds to manipulate various religious teachings and scripture to maintain male dominance in society.
In doing so, these states and institutions utilize religion as a tool for oppression when in reality, faith and spirituality are supposed to be liberating not oppressive. The power in the liberation that religion can offer is that these freedoms are all encompassing, rather than limited to certain aspects of a person’s life like the freedom the patriarchy likes offers to as a symbolic display of progressivism. Tyrants that utilize religion as a tool of oppression have long sought to discourage the recognition of the various freedoms actually enshrined in religious teachings.
For example, very few people understand that bodily autonomy and expression is at the core of so many of Islam's teachings and the concepts enshrined in Islamic philosophy. Islam teaches us that to violate a person's bodily autonomy - or their right to govern what happens to their body without external influence, pressure, or coercion - is also to violate fundamental teachings of Islam. Therefore, a government with policies and institutions that seek to undermine an individual's bodily autonomy has no business calling itself Islamic or associating itself with the teachings and influence of Islam.
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We know nothing will change in Muslim societies (or any society for that matter because we know that patriarchy is pervasive) until the people themselves are moved to change their communities and the government that represents them. Yes, it is a long haul, but grassroots, community based change is the only sustainable and permanent way for a society to move beyond the constraints of the patriarchy. We know it is doable because we’ve succeeded with our #ImamsForShe program.
If you would like to learn how we do it, please join me on October 3rd as I present my paper titled “Engaging #ImamsForShe Champions to Catalyze Sustainable Social and Cultural Change towards Fully Achieving Women’s and Girls’ Rights in Muslim Communities”, organized by Al-Azhar University, Muhammadiyah, and Faith to Action Network. Please see registration details below.
In a final moment of reflection, we have come a long way when
Al-Azhar University and MPV’s logos are on the same page!
Onward and upward…
Ani Zonneveld
Founder, President
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September 14, 2022 - MPV organized a forum at Rayburn House Office Building in Washington D.C. entitled “Addressing Apostasy and Blasphemy Laws in Muslim Societies”. Unfortunately the tech team failed to live out their contractual obligations so we are trying to salvage and re-record the audio to reproduce the video content. Please give us a few weeks and we’ll be sharing it on our website and in November’s newsletter. Thanks for your patience!
October 3, 2022 - We are pleased to invite you to join a webinar, Advancing Gender Equality in Islam. This webinar presents the normative Islamic position on gender equality. It seeks to distinguish between dominant cultural practices that are prevalent among Muslim communities versus a woman’s right in the Quran. |
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October 6, 2022 - Organized by the Jewish-Islamic Dialogue Society of Washington, Non Traditional Movements in Islam and Judaism, will seek to grapple with the difficult questions found in both the Judaic and Islamic faith traditions.
The panelists, Ani Zonneveld and Taya Ma Shere will each open up the conversation with a song, followed by a discussion on the inclusive, progressive, and non-traditional movements they lead in their faiths. Each panelist will speak about the various challenges they face from the mainstream movements along with their hopes and expectations for the future of nontraditional movements in faith groups.
Send your RSVP to [email protected] today to reserve your slot!
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Check out our store for MPV's published works and for national and chapter events, check our calendar here.
Stay tuned for the launch of some official MPV merchandise later in the fall!
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In the days following the "Addressing Apostasy and Blasphemy Laws in Muslim Societies" forum, we received a number of requests for the various Quranic verses and Hadith referenced throughout the presentation that promote religious freedom as a core tenant of Islam.
We are pleased to share that we've compiled the various verses and Hadith on religious freedom in a PDF that you will find below and available for download on our website.
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Progressive Islam in Practice Series |
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At MPV we recognize that the Progressive Muslim movement will never sustain significant growth without making information about Progressive Islam more accessible to the Muslim community. The Progressive Islam in Practice Series is a manifestation of this campaign and as a result, we’ve helped to educate the community on topics from feminist readings of the Qur’an, abortion rights in Islam, issues of child and forced marriages, to the acceptance of sexual diversity in Islam.
In addition to sharing the series on social media, we have built up an entire page on the website dedicated to the Progressive Islam in Practice Series entitled Quick Learns.
To learn more about Freedom of Religion and Belief in Islam, we encourage you to visit our website.
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If you appreciate the work that we do, please consider making a donation to ensure that Muslims for Progressive Values can continue to promote progressive Islamic values today and everyday! |
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