feminism vs. islam?

I've been reading a few blogs and articles over the past few days, and a lot of them brought up the issue of the so-called contradiction between feminism and Islam. Is there a contradiction? Can a Muslim woman be a feminist, and can a feminist be a Muslim? I'd say yes, since I would describe myself as both.
I think one problem is the negative image feminism has in the Arab/Islamic world. People see it as a Western import that has no place in Islamic culture. It probably brings to mind images of women in short skirts burning bras or women trying to act like men. This is, of course, stereotypical. To me, feminism is simply giving women equal right. EQUAL, not the SAME. No one says that men and women should be doing the same things or playing the same roles, but they should get EQUAL value for what they do, i.e. a woman should be valued for raising children just as much as a man gets valued for being a C.E.O. (provided the woman chose to become a mother).
In this sense of the word feminism, is it really incompatible with Islam? I don't think so. As many scholars have said, the Qur'an out of the 3 holy books gives the most rights to women. The Prophet could probably be described as a feminist, considering that he was pro-women's rights and often spoke out against unnecessary cruelty against women, such as when they were beaten by their husbands. His actions alone were very progressive: he didn't beat his wives, his wives often spoke out against him publicly, and he clearly loved them, especially Aisha. Khadija in particular is a good example of the kind of man the Prophet was: she was older than him, economically independent, and she proposed to him! Can you imagine many Arab men TODAY marrying a woman like that? I definitely can't.
If anything, the Qur'an and the Prophet put forward a case for women's rights that has gradually been diminished over time, with women becoming more and more oppressed across the Islamic world. This is why I'm very interested in the idea of Islamic feminism: the idea that we can get equality for women through Islam, since Islam does advocate that women's rights are important.
It really gets to me when Muslims (especially women) get upset at feminists. Another example of women bringing their own sex down. You can be a Muslim and a feminist: there is no necessary contradiction, unless you have a radical defintion of feminism OR a radical definition of Islam, and since I have neither, I find it easy to be both.

When I started this blog, I wasn't sure whether it should be a general blog about my life and thoughts, or about a specific topic. After a few posts, I realized I love posting about Islam and specifically about women and Islam. I've been a practicing Muslim since April 2008, and before then the biggest thing that stopped me from becoming a practicing Muslim is the issue of women in Islam. Of course, the bad image Islam has globally is partly a result of racism and ignorance on the part of the West, but it is also due to 1) ignorance of the majority of Muslims, and 2) misinterpretation and abuse of power by those that have the power in Islam.
Anyway, I began reading in depth about the topic, and found a lot of authors who really helped me understand the issue better. Leila Ahmed, Karen Armstrong and Fatima Mernissi especially put a lot of things into perspective regarding the veil, polygamy, divorce and the beating of women. The Qur'an itself also cleared up a lot, naturally. All of this research helped me reach the decision to begin practicing Islam.
Until today, I still have a lot of reservations and questions re. the issue of women and Islam. I am definitely a feminist and I am also definitely a Muslim, and I believe the 2 can be reconciled. However, this takes some work due to the patriarchal societies most Muslims live in. Also, the blurring between religion and culture has contributed to the suffering of many Muslim women unnecessarily.
To conclude, I believe that we can better the status of women by using Islam, the Qur'an, and the example of the Prophet. I am not so sure about the Hadith, since there are many that are responsible for negative treatment of women, and it is important to trace each Hadith back to see whether it is a strong or weak one.
So from now on the blog will mainly be about things I've read/seen/heard/thought about Islam, and probably usually they'll involve women, gender, or feminism. I think writing about these issues will help me order and clarify my own thinking on the subject, and this will help me become a better Muslim and a better feminist.

my soul is a woman

I was just going through some old notes and I found the notes I'd written down while reading "My Soul is a Woman" by Annemarie Schimmel, considered one of the most important Sufi texts on women and Islam. Schimmel begins by noting that we should not compare gender and women's rights in Islam to those in Christianity or Judaism but rather by itself. I will just note a few of her interesting points:

The noun man can be used to designate any individual who earnestly strives towards God, without reference to a biological gender.

The mother motif is important in Islam: "Paradise lies beneath the feet of the mothers."

There is no conception of original sin as being passed on by biological gender. Leila Ahmed mentions this too in Women, Gender and Islam, and I read it myself in the Qur'an: God does not solely blame Eve but rather Adam and Eve.

Khadija: she proposed to him, she was older than him, she was economically independent, she consoled him after first revelation and convinced him it was divine.

The Prophet (pbuh) set examples through his numerous marriages: he married a widow, a divorcee, a slave, etc. Yet today in most Arab/Muslim countries, divorcees for example are looked down upon and shunned (divorced women that is).

"The best among you is he who treats his wife most kindly." (Prophet, pbuh).

"A male lion is a lion. Is that to say that a female lion is not a lion as well?" Turkish proverb quoted in book.

It is undeniable that in Islam much suffering has fallen to the lot of women because simle Qur'anic precepts have been interpreted more and more narrowly over the course of time. Customs lacking Qur'anic foundation have become increasingly rigid. Ridigity has taken on almost canonical charachter.

Most of the book deals with women in Sufi history and tradition, but it does give a lot of background info on women in Islam in general. Definitely worth skimming through.