Manipulated Notions of Islam Regarding Women: An Analysis of The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis under Islamic Feminism

Hafza Arshad; Sarah  Azam

doi:10.32350/sri.21.03

Hafza Arshad Independent Researcher
Sarah Azam Independent Researcher

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32350/sri.21.03

Keywords: Culture, Islam, Islamic Feminism, Patriarchy, Taliban, Women rights

Abstract

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This research attempts to examine the suffocated lives of women in Afghanistan in the novel, The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis under the lens of Islamic Feminism presented by Fatema Mernissi in Islam and Democracy. Islam has given all the fundamental rights to women. Despite being under the protection of men, women ought to have their own individuality as both genders shall stand equal for their deeds on the day of judgement. This research identifies the manipulated notions of Islam regarding women in the respective novel through the framework of Islamic feminism. The theory emphasizes that Islam allows women to celebrate their femininity, but the misinterpretation of Quranic verses has misled Muslims into believing otherwise. Thus, the research contributes to the struggle of identifying Afghan women's rights within the outside and domestic sphere which have been demolished by men, with the aid of Islamic feminism. In The Breadwinner, Taliban’s agenda is to set a religious narrative that women are submissive and they should be confined inside the four walls. In contrast, the reality is entirely opposite as Islam provides equal rights to both sexes on human grounds.

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