Feminist movement

31-7-2001 | IslamWeb

Question:

Can you give me some info with regards to the Feminist movement? How it started, when, where and its objectives/goals? Is it Islamic?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
The feminist movement began in Muslim world in Egypt in nineteenth century. Rifa'ah al-Tahtavi was the first leader of this movement. He established that movement after he returned from Paris where he was sent to get advanced study in modern technology. He was the leader of the first group of Egyptian students who were sent to France. After a stay of five years when he came back to Egypt, he began to introduce among Muslims many unIslamic ideas, one of them was the call for equality between men and women. Many other so-called Muslims adopted his ideas and encouraged their practice in the Muslim society. But the essence of this movement was to encourage the Muslim women to follow the footsteps of European women and to spread the Jewish and Christian social system and life styles among Muslims. The source of this movement and the aims and activities of it do not have any relation to Islam.
Allah knows best.