In the video below, Aisha Al-Adawiya speaks about her enlightenment and experience as a woman in Islam. I chose this video specifically because, as she says in her explanation, there are misconceptions about how "Islam treats women" that often come from people other than those women themselves. This video and others like it give Al-Adawiya's experience validation, as talked about in Patricia Hill Collins' article , "The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought". Collins declares, "..this business of living makes women use their minds in ways that men don't even have to think about." This is true as many men of Black Islam are applauded for finding "enlightenment" and respected for staying and standing firm in those beliefs. I want to validate Aisha's life experience by sharing her testimony with the class, working in the interdependency prompted by Audre Lorde, though I am of Christian faith, I do believe her experience should be held at high esteem and accounted for.
I loved her insight and her view of African American communities overall.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that she has found a place in Islam where she feels like her womanhood is celebrated, and I'm sure there are many examples of women like her, but unfortunately I can not help but think about all the women who are being oppressed under the pretense of Islam. I think there are instances of the same thing occurring in many other religions as well, including Christianity. I think it's important for women to find things in their religion that make them feel empowered as opposed to letting themselves be overpowered by it.
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