Secular and Islamic Feminist Discourses

Abstract

Ever since I became aware of its significance, March 8 has always been a special day for me. I like to think that on this particular day people all over the world celebrate the Woman. I feel happy to be a woman on March 8. Ever since I joined the University of Fez in 1982, I have taken it upon myself to organize or participate in something to commemorate the day. However, of all the March 8s I remember, the 2000 one stands out and for a reason. March 8, 2000 celebrations were overdramatized by the unusually turbulent and widely unfolding debates on Moroccan women’s rights. For the very first time in Moroccan history women’s rights were a national issue and at a grand scale! Two camps were literally jumping at each other’s throat: the conservatives and the modernists and the bone of contention was basically whether to adopt a conservative or a modernist reading of Sharia (Islamic law) in matters of women’s rights. Even my aging illiterate mother was excited and concerned! She who never could understand the king’s speeches (delivered in Standard Arabic) wanted to know his position on this one! The Moroccan feminist community I was part of decided to organize a big march in Rabat on March 12, 2000 to commemorate the day.