All Black Women Muslim Lives Matter: In Conversation with Fulbright Scholar, Iman AbdoulKarim
by Rachael the Lord
In a pivotal moment in history we are mandated by the times to be bold about challenging injustice and protecting individuals and communities that are oppressed. This is without question. However, we cannot move forward without acknowledging that in our fight for Black lives, we have not fought for all Black lives. It is damaging and fatal when we neglect the intricate web of identities that make us a colorful community. We will not progress leaving parts of the community behind. The heart of this movement is at the interests and well being of every single Black life.
Fulbright Scholar and Dartmouth graduate, Iman AbdoulKarim, is a Black Muslim woman working in the front lines to advocate and educate about different identities within the Muslim community. AbdoulKarim talks to me about her research, debunking mainstream [white] feminist thought about Muslim women and shares her dreams for the Muslim community.
Read Iman’s interview below.
RTL: Iman, your research and efforts highlight a huge conversation in making sure that we dedicate a movement for all black lives. What does “all” mean to you?
IA:The meaning of “all” in social justice organizing was constantly challenged in my interviews with Muslim women in the BLM movement. “All” was not only a word, but it was a specific approach towards activism- one that worked constantly to center the margins of the marginalized in any form of activism. To me, when we dedicate a movement to “all” it has to be more than a fickle attempt at inclusivity. It has to be a persistent interrogation of how one approach towards any lived experience, violence, oppression, etc. centers some while excluding others.
More importantly, challenging the notion of “all” means recognizing when normalization is happening, holding ourselves and others accountable to dismantle it, and starting over. “All” has to be an unattainable standard, something we are constantly reaching for but never assume we have achieved.
RTL: I love how you have plainly stated that Islam centers social justice. In a country that is hard pressed to oppose and skew that narrative, what are the practical, everyday things you do to share this truth?
IA: For me, I wear my politics on my sleeve. I make it known to almost everyone I meet that I’m Muslim and XYZ are what I do and don’t support. Being unapologetically black and Muslim- and not compromising either of those identities under any circumstance- helps me share my truth. I wasn’t always able to do that, and it’s a lot easier said than done. But I try to hold myself to that standard in every space I enter. So, when I talk about social justice, it’s clear that I’m bringing my race, religion, sexuality, and all of my other identities to the table. There is no separating my blackness from my Muslimness, so when I talk about one, I’m always talking about the other. I think on the day-to-day that’s how I try to share my truth about Islam in a small way.
RTL: It is a belief that advocating feminism or being for (all) women cannot co-exist with Islam. Islam is not a religion that oppresses but many feminists have claimed the opposite. Where does that belief come from and why do you think it exists?
IA:The idea that Islam cannot co-exist with feminism is centuries old. That idea has been constructed and consumed since before the term “Feminism” was even coined. The idea that Islam cannot co-exist with feminism is deeply entrenched in global conflict, imperialism, colonialism, state violence, and more.
More importantly, there has been so much violence committed against Muslim women in the name of Feminism that makes that belief so complicated on so many levels for multiple parties. I think that Lila Abu-lughod’s book and article, Do Muslim Women Need Saving?, is a great place for people to understand exactly where this idea comes from, its history, and its consequences. For our “woke” generation, where the term ‘intersectionality’ is so widely (mis)used on social media, one of the reasons this narrative continues to exist is due to a complete failure to interrogate conscious and subconscious dispositions.
We are in an era where anything related to women or remotely resembling feminism gets ‘intersectionality’ thrown in front of it like training wheels and a bulletproof vest. It’s actually very scary because it safe guards so many people from being self-critical and criticized. I bring this up because it shows that we are still a generation that fails to actually understand different lived realities, systems of power, and oppressions from the perspective of the people at the center of these conscious and subconscious views.
So I think this will continue to exist as long as people don’t do the work of unlearning- and it is getting harder than ever when people have the vocabulary, know the theory, but can’t understand the way they perpetuate this narrative in their organizing and everyday life.
RTL: What is your response to feminists who believe Islam oppresses women?
IK:Get over yourselves, read some books, and stop using your “feminism” to hide behind your bigotry. The idea that “Islam oppresses women,” is equally as simplistic as it is violent. There are incredible women who have done the work of interrogating this statement. Leila Ahmed’s work, Women and Gender in Islam, is a fantastic read for those actually interested in the role of women and gender in larger Islamic discourse.
But, I think in today’s Women’s March climate, we are seeing a different narrative surrounding Muslim women in mainstream circles. I remember being at the Women’s March in Boston and being disturbed that tens of thousands of white women were waving and wearing the Free the People image of the Muslim woman in an American flag hijab. I thought this was the perfect representation of white feminist thought on Muslim women. It demonstrated that they can only fit Muslim women into their feminist narrative by white washing us and wrapping us in hypernationalism. To me, this reflected the narrative shift from “Islam oppresses women” to “Muslim women are just like us.” I think the latter is just a dangerous as the former. If humanizing Muslim women is the goal, that’s deplorable. We are human, there has to be a higher standard- one that involves understanding Muslim women’s experience from their perspective and in their own words. Not just when it fits in your girl power version of the American melting pot.
RTL: Fifty years from now, what is your hope for the lives of all Black Muslim women?
IK: World domination… All joking aside, I don’t have a crystal ball but I hope it looks like greater representation and recognition. There are so many trailblazing black Muslim women who have been doing incredible work for years. However, they are often kicked to the sidelines while other, more palatable, figures are centered. This is the case for most situations, but especially when it comes to Muslim representation in social justice organizing. I think that Islam will always be a racialized religion- as all religions are.
However, I’m excited for the day when thinking about who is Muslim and who represents the Muslim American community- we think of black Muslims, black Muslim women, and queer Muslim women who stand at so many intersections. The wealth of knowledge that comes from that existence is so powerful. I hope in fifty years that the entirety of the Muslim American community wakes up and realizes that as long as anti- blackness exists, so will Islamophobia. The same goes with queerphobia, patriarchy, and so many other systems of power. Muslim women are shouting this every day, but no one is listening. I hope in fifty years we are not only listening, but hearing, taking note, and letting them lead us where we need to go.
