CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019
| Author | Noreen, Saima |
|---|---|
| Title | Women in Pakistan as Subjects of Reform to 'Reformists': A Feminist Historical Analysis of Al-Huda International |
| Summary | Al-Huda, a transnational Muslim piety movement, is bringing socio-cultural transformation in the urban educated class of Pakistan and creating new identities of ‘disobediently pious women' and ‘rebellious religious women' in the political and social context where women have been subjected to reform. The history of making Pakistani women subject to reform can be traced back from the British colonizers, through colonial feminism and in contemporary Pakistan, through religion-based interventions from the social, political and state actors. This thesis presents a feminist historical analysis of Al-Huda International, an organization founded by Dr Farhat Hashmi in 1994 and a source of transformation in the socio-cultural landscape of Pakistani urban educated communities. This study draws upon the political, social and religious context which paved the way for Al-Huda to get accepted and embraced at public and state levels. The thesis further analyzes the inception of Al-Huda as the first-ever Pakistani women-centric and women-proliferated reformist movement focusing on women’s spiritual individualism despite their conservative approach. A substantial part of the analysis engages with the political and organizational strategies which are adopted by Al-Huda to gain unprecedented popularity and to grow into a transnational movement from a dars-based elite women's gathering. The theoretical and methodological approach of this research is informed by anthropological scholarships of Meryem Zaman, Sadaf Ahmad, Aneela Babar and Riffat Hassan. Furthermore, this thesis employs the archival data of Al-Huda, available online in the form of official websites, annual reports, newsletters and YouTube channels. |
| Supervisor | Jones-Gailani, Nadia |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2019/noreen_saima.pdf |
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