There is a need to interrogate the public discourse happening around Muslim women from different socio-political perspectives. This includes the debates on Muslim women rights, identity formation , issues of representation, etc. On the one hand, there are stereotypes circulating around victimized and suppressed Muslim women primarily by men in their community. On the other hand, there is an idealised representation about Muslim women which argues that they are completely free from the issue of power from her own community. New studies on Muslim women and the activism of the Muslim women social movements have questioned this binary to bring forth a nuanced critical approach for understanding the Muslim women question.
It is only recently that the issue of Muslim women started to receive public attention in this part of the world especially in academic studies on gender. However, during the 1980’s , a number of powerful Muslim women social movements emerged in different parts of the world, and these movements played a significant role in shifting the debates around Muslim women . Girls Islamic Organisation (GIO) in Kerala is part of the historical legacy of the Muslim women's movement that emanates from that period.
The larger context of the knowledge production around Muslim women question is influenced by the postmodern / post structuralist/postcolonial turn in social theory realizing the limitations of the hegemonic knowledge politics of gender. The new shift in social theory challenged the way Islam is represented in binaries of modern/traditional, secular/religious, public/private, progressive/conservative etc.These explorations in contemporary knowledge politics have taken the debates forward by analyzing the Muslim women question shaped by the politics of religion, race, class, coloniality, caste, gender, sexuality, region and so on.
In the contemporary Indian scenario, the so called ‘victim position’ of Muslim women is used as a sophisticated tool against the Muslim minority community. In this context, Muslim women need to come out and speak about Muslim women rights without the mediation of the dominant paradigm of knowledge production and the cultural/political elites in the Indian public sphere.
GIO Kerala is conducting a colloquium on the Muslim women question to facilitate an autonomous conversation of Muslim women and her allies. GIO is creating a platform for discourses on Muslim women and this includes discussion on Islamic texts, the politics of Muslim women, the history of Muslim women lives, the experiences of Muslim women from different regions , the socio-political and cultural backgrounds of the Muslim women question, and the analysis of various Muslim social movements . The conference also aims for an edited volume by compiling the conference presentation.
To prepare for the conference, GIO conducted two workshops on June 26, 27, 28 at Al Jamia Shanthapuram and August 13,14,15 at Irshadiya College. We are also planning to conduct a lecture series before the colloquium.
The Conference would be on February 25 and 26 at Calicut. December 30th is the last date for sending in the abstracts. The abstract must not exceed more than 300 words. The complete paper must be submitted before January 25.
Abstract should give a clear and concise idea about the paper being presented in no more than 300 words. Send your abstracts to 'muslimwomenscolloquium@gmail.com'.
Only the abstracts received before the deadline will be considered for presentation.
The final papers should be submitted before 25-01-2017. Late submissions will not be entertained.
1. Muslimah Theology and gender hermeneutics of Islam.
2. Epistemology, tradition and question of authority in Islam.
3. Identity and representations of Muslim women.
4. Muslim gender politics : Decolonial approaches .
5. Muslim women lives and biographies.
Fasna Mian (Secretary, GIO Kerala)
M.I Abdul Azeez (Ameer, JIH Kerala)
Flavia Agnes (Women’s Rights Lawyer)
Engineer Muhammed Saleem (Secretary General, JIH)
Nasira Thayyil (Convenor, MWC)
DR. VARSHA BASHEER (Affiliated Faculty at IRDP, Centre for Race and Gender, University of California Berkeley)
Rahmathunnisa A (Vice President, Women’s Wing, JIH Kerala)
P.M.A Gafoor (Former State President, MSM)
Farha O.A (AlJamia Al Islamiya, Santhapuram)
V.A.M Ashrof (Secretary, International Interfaith Dialogue India,Kochi)
Sahla K (M A English, Calicut University)
Mohammed Shameem (Writer)
Dr. Jabir Amani (HoD, Department of Arabic and Islamic Finance, SS College, Areacode)
Muslim Women and the Politics of Uniform Civil Code
V.A Kabeer (Chief Editor, IPH)
Basima Shahana.V (M.Phil Scholar, School of Social Sciences, UoH)
Fathima Madari (Graduate Student, Ibn Khaldoon Institute of Social Science, Kuttiady)
K.T.Hussain (Assistant Director, IPH)
Shahanaz K.V (Asst. Professor, MES College of Engineering, Kuttippuram )
Muhammed Bilal (Al Jamia Al Islamiya, Santhapuram)
Niyas A.K (Al Jamia Al Islamiya, Santhapuram)
K.P Salwa (Former State President, GIO Kerala)
Dr. Varsha Basheer (Affiliated Faculty at IRDP, Centre for Race and Gender, University of California Berkeley)
Dr. Jenny Rowena (Asst. Professor, Miranda House, University of Delhi)
A.S Ajith Kumar (Writer, Musician, Activist)
Dr. Sherin B.S (Asst. Professor, Dept. Of Comparative Literature, EFLU, Hyderabad)
R Yusuf (Asst. Professor, International Islamic University, Malaysia)
Dr. Jenny Rowena (Asst. Professor, Miranda House, University of Delhi)
Khadeeja Mangat (Ph.D candidate, Centre for Study of Social Systems, JNU)
Feba Rasheed (M.Phil Candidate, Dept. of English,University of Delhi)
Dr.V Hikmathulla (Asst. Professor,Dept. Of Malayalam and Kerala Studies, University of Calicut)
Adv. Fasila.A.K (Indian Law Institute, New Delhi)
Juveria Iram (Ph.D Candidate, Osmania University, Hyderabad)
Farhana Ashique (Graduate Student, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi)
Dr. Sherin B.S (Asst. Professor, Dept. Of Comparative Literature, EFLU, Hyderabad)
O.V Sajitha
Ansiya Rahman (Ph.D Candidate, School of Economics, Central University of Kerala)
Amal Abdulrahman (IIT, Madras)
Fousiya Shams (Sub. Editor, Aramam)
Husna Mumthaz (Al Jamia Al Islamiya, Santhapuram)
(PhD Political Theory and Gender Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Former Fox International Fellow, Yale University, USA
Assist Professor at School of International Studies, Tehran, Iran )
Ajith Kumar A.S (Writer, Musician, Activist)
Ummul Fayiza P.P (M.Phil Candidate, Centre For Political Studies, JNU)
Marva M (Integrated Masters, IIT Madras)
Noorunnida.M (Ph.D Candidate, Centre for Women Studies, UoH)
Simi K Salim (M.A English, Jamia Milliyya Islamiyya, New Delhi)
SUHAILA M.K
Suhaila M K
Ameena S
Dr. Insha Malik
M.I Abdul Azeez (Ameer, JIH Kerala)
Shareefa Salman (President, GIO Calicut)