ISLAMOFEMINISM: FINDING A FEMINIST AUDIENCE IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 000066

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/PI - SSAEED, CBOURGEOIS, KBARTELS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KWMN KISL SOCI SCUL AG
SUBJECT: ISLAMOFEMINISM: FINDING A FEMINIST AUDIENCE IN
ALGERIA


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Two recent American Bar Association (ABA)
seminars on sharia law held in Algiers and Oran featured
lectures using the theological tenets of Islam to support
arguments in favor of gender equality. The lectures, by
Islamic feminist scholar and Richmond University law
professor Hazizah al-Hibri, reached an audience largely
comprised of women lawyers from around the country, including
Algiers, Blida, Setif, and Bejaia. Al-Hibri defended her
points by citing the Qur'an and sharia law rather than
relying on modern interpretations of feminism and Islam. Her
views blending sharia law and secular concepts of government
represented a novel approach in contrast to more conservative
Islamist thinkers in Algeria, who generally stress Islam's
incompatibility with modern governance.
Moderate-conservative views like hers may find an audience
here, particularly among Algeria's female professional cadre.
END SUMMARY.

DEMOCRACY IN HEAVEN
--------------


2. (U) Hazizah Al-Hibri, a Fulbright scholar and law
professor at Richmond University, spoke at two ABA-sponsored
events in Algeria on the theme of gender equality in the
Muslim world. Al-Hibri is the founder and president of a
Muslim-women lawyers' organization called Karamah, which
addresses human rights issues for Muslims. She began her
presentations by exploring Islamic cultural traditions and
religious hierarchies, and by describing the democratic
foundations of the first Islamic community, supporting her
claim with direct references to the Qur'an. For example, she
referred to Qur'anic passages related to the relationship
between angels and God as proof that Islam and democracy are
compatible institutions. She argued that, according to the
Qur'an, angels do not sin, but they argue with God. That
shows us that "there is democracy, even in heaven."

ISLAM'S MODERN COMPATIBILITY
--------------


3. (U) Al-Hibri also outlined her interpretation of the
Islamic world view and its relationship to modern society.
She argued that sharia law and modern societies are not
incompatible, and that states must only satisfy two
conditions to meet Islamic standards. First, she said, the
political process must be based on elections (baya't) and the
elective and governing processes must be based on broad
deliberation (shura). Secondly, she argued, states must
protect the dignity of all people. Again quoting the Qur'an,
she explained that because God gives dignity to all people,
human institutions must also treat all people with dignity.
Accordingly, she argued, men and women alike deserve to be
treated with equal justice. "If you read the Qur'an, you
will understand that everything is about el-mizan (balance),"
Al-Hibri insisted. To illustrate this balance, Al-Hibri
further outlined her conception of women's rights in Islamic
societies, emphasizing that equality in marriage is a
necessary element of any such discussion. "Marriage is not a
service contract," she said. "You are not hiring a cook or
someone to wash your dishes. You are getting a companion."


4. (U) Al-Hibri also made the case that gender equality is
found in Islam's theological tenets. She used the Islamic
tale of the creation of Satan as a parable of gender
prejudice. In the story, Satan, who was originally one of
God's angels, refuses to bow down to man, GodQ,s latest
creation. He became arrogant, Al-Hibri said, because he was
made of fire while man was made of mere clay, and Satan would
not bow down before a creature made of clay. Al-Hibri argued
that Satan's sin was to believe in his superiority over man,
and thus, she extrapolated, there is an equal sin in
believing in the superiority of one's own gender over
another. She concluded, "Regardless of race and heritage, we
all have the same metaphysical origin. Do not be like Satan;
do not think you are better because you are one thing and
someone else is another. That goes for both male and
female."

COMMENT
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5. (SBU) Although al-Hibri's academic credentials are
impressive, her theological views were the primary draw for
much of the audience. A lawyer from the court in Bejaia told
us, "This is the first time that I have encountered a true
feminist whose arguments come from the Holy Qur'an." Sabrina
Ouared, Secretary General of the female advocacy group SOS
Femmes en Detresse, also explained to us, "It is extremely
rare to encounter such a modern perspective on sharia law."


6. (SBU) Al-Hibri's discussion of sharia law and its
compatibility with modern concepts of governance is a
noteworthy departure from the views expressed by other
conservative Islamist voices in Algeria. Much of the
conservative religious discourse here, espoused by clerics
like Ali Ferkous and Abderrahmane Chibane of the Muslim
Scholars Association, emphasizes the incompatibility of
Islamic tenets with modernity and secular government. In his
most recent fetwa interpreting sharia law, Ferkous said that
democratic regimes represent "the ways of the non-believers,"
and that "such regimes attempt to replace the sovereignty of
the Creator and His right to absolute legislation." But
while these "mainstream" Algerian religious scholars may be
promoting a very conservative brand of Islam tinged with
anti-democratic or anti-Western sentiment, the audiences
drawn to al-Hibri's lectures may indicate that there is room
in Algeria for other viewpoints also based on tradition and
which promote a more balanced concept of gender relations, in
this case.
PEARCE