Can the Malay feminist talk in Malaysia?

By admin-s On Dec 10, 2014

It is very difficult to live in a society where every idea that is foreign to the majority (in this case the Muslims) is dealt with in violent ways and with an ancient orthodox mind and mannerisms.

Wan Muhd Saefullah, MMO

In a particular case that one can easily observe, the existence of feminism in Malaysia sticks in the craw of vast simpletons, including self-appointed and self-proclaimed “scholars.”

Feminism, the ideology that defends and champions equal social, economic and political rights for women, is notoriously portrayed as something sinister and paganistic by the Malay Muslim community.

You can then only imagine how lamentable the status of women is in the eyes of the Malays, how deeply rooted the thinking that women are the lower being, that we can even find women voluntarily and rigorously fighting against feminism.

The Malay-Muslim feminist is hindered

The prime reason for this is something that we’ve heard again and again, “Feminism is a Western unIslamic dogma.” And the other resason that agitates us the most is this: “Islam has already covered everything holistically so we do not need feminism to defend the rights of women.”

First and foremost, whose version of Islam? Because when you say Islam, we even have scholars arguing different versions of “to what depth is it permissible to pick your nose during Ramadan.”

As comedic as this may sound, we know that it’s true. On the general level, we have different interpretations and schools of thought. Who’s to say your version is absolute?