Encyclopedia of Islam

Mernissi, Fatima

 

(1940–  )  Moroccan 

sociologist, writer, religious and political activist, and 

leading contemporary liberal Muslim intellectual

Fatima Mernissi is a professor of sociology at the 

University of Mohammed V in Rabat, m

orocco

,

having studied in Morocco, received a gradu-

ate degree from the Sorbonne, and a Ph.D. 

from Brandeis University. Most of her works 

constitute early milestones in Islamic feminism; 

she usually writes in French and many of her 

works have been translated into numerous other 

languages. Throughout much of her career, her 

main concern has been what she perceives as the 

oppressed status of 

Women

 in majority Muslim 

cultures. Her most significant belief is that the 

marginalized status of Muslim women in virtu-

ally every aspect of life, including educational, 

economic, social, and religious, is contradictory 

to Islam’s basic teachings. Mernissi maintains that 

the  q

Uran

’s pronouncements and m

Uhammad

’s 

example require Muslims to implement equality, 

freedom, and liberty with respect to both genders 

and to socioeconomic domains. For Mernissi, 

the overriding reason for injustice in majority 

Muslim societies is because, throughout most of 

Islamic history, Muslim men have controlled the 

interpretation of Islam’s texts and every other 

aspect of Islamic cultures. She asserts that the 

latter part of the 20th century constituted the 

first time that some Muslim women obtained the 

opportunity to retrieve Islam’s original egalitarian 

teachings, to publicly critique Islamic societies, 

and to proclaim liberating paradigms for women 

and other marginalized groups based on those 

teachings.

Until the early part of the 21st century, Mernissi 

attempted to implement her vision for Islamic 

societies through her print publications, lectures, 

and nonelectronic political organizations. With 

increased use of the Internet and satellite tele-

vision by many across the globe, Mernissi has 

utilized her Web site and her leadership in orga-

nizations such as Synergie Civique (Civic Synergy) 

and Caravane Civique (Civic Caravan) to promote 

democracy

 and 

hUman

 

rights

. She envisions using 

satellite and other electronic means to spread her 

ideas in the future. The beauty and simple sophis-

tication of Mernissi’s vision and communication 

style coupled with the readily accessible venues 

for her work have been factors that have led to 

the popularity of her ideas inside and outside 

academic circles.

Jon Armajani