'Gender Jihad' in the Service of Women's Rights The 44-year-old US writer Asra Nomani is viewed as a prominent representative of "Gender Jihad". For the former Wall Street Journal reporter, there is no contradiction between Islam and feminism. In both western countries and Muslim societies feminism and Islam are mostly regarded as irreconcilable opposites. Why are they not compatible? Asra Nomani: Yes, I'm always hearing that view at my lectures. But as far as I'm concerned, the two go hand in hand. I think Islam was originally a feminist religion. The Prophet Mohammed was a feminist, like his first wife Khadija, his daughter Fatima and his wife Aisha. None of them allowed themselves to be pushed aside, and they all spoke their minds. I don't think Islamic feminism is an apparent contradiction. Actually, I meet religious feminists all over the world – Mormon, Catholic, Maronite, Jewish-orthodox, Protestant. My experience is that women have to fight mal...
