“Women in Politics”: A Seminar Report

The Gender Studies Research Group hosted a seminar on “Women in Politics” in May 2, 2016, moderated by Pr. Soumaya Belhabib with the participation of Pr. Aili Mari Tripp as a guest speaker from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and Pr. Naima Benlarbi from Ibn Tofail University, Kénitra, Morocco. The moderator of the seminar, Pr. Soumaya Belhabib, gave the opening talk in which she expressed her thanks to the guest speaker and Pr. Naima Benlarbi for participating in the seminar and to the audience for their attendance. After that, she discussed the importance of the topic of “Women in Politics” in the MENA region and its relevance to the aims of the Gender Studies Research Group, including the promotion of ethical principles of justice, equity, human rights and democracy through education and research. She then gave the floor to the first speaker, Pr. Aili Mari Tripp.

Pr. Aili Mari Tripp delivered a presentation entitled “Women’s Political Representation in the Arab Maghreb,” which is part of the research she is undertaking on gender and politics in the MENA countries. The research question her presentation is centered on is as follows: “Why have Maghreb countries increased [women’s] political representation faster than other MENA countries?” She started her presentation with a discussion of the differences and commonalities between Maghreb countries. For instance, some of the commonalities between the Maghreb countries, according to Pr. Aili Mari Tripp, are the shared Maliki Islamic and French jurisprudence and the centralized state control over the legal system. Next, she moved to discuss her proposed answer to the aforementioned research question, that is, the factors behind the difference between the Maghreb and the rest of the MENA region in increasing women’s political representation. Moreover, Pr. Tripp questioned the treatment of oil production as a factor that explains the difference in women’s political representation in the MENA region.

After Pr. Tripp’s presentation, the floor was given to Pr. Naima Benlarbi who delivered a presentation entitled “The Political Rights of Moroccan Women.” Her presentation was divided into two parts. The first part argued for the right of Moroccan women to politics according to the sources of Islam while the second part did so according to “modern law (mainly the Constitution) and Moroccan Records of History on women’s participation.” After defining the terms politics and rights, Pr. Benlarbi moved on to discuss how the situation of Women in the Arabian Peninsula was improved with the coming of Islam, citing as evidence Ayah 71 of Surah 9 and Ayah 13 of Surah 49. Next, she discussed the idea that Islamic historical records include instances of women’s participation in the political life, such as the right to Bai’ah, using this as a supporting evidence for Islam's compatibility with women's political participation. Out of this discussion on women’s political participation throughout the history of Islam, Pr. Benlarbi concluded that “there are at least no Qur’anic verses that clearly prevent women from occupying important positions even in government especially those of leadership in Islam,” adding, “but there are some positions which raise some controversy.” Other sub-topics that Pr. Benlarbi touched upon are the questions of women’s leadership, female judges, and women in the presidency or as heads of state, citing Qur’anic verses like the story of Queen of Sheba as well scholars’ interpretations and opinions of these issues like Fatema Mernissi’s and Sheikh Al-Quaradaoui’s. After that, she moved to “the case of modern law in Morocco,” in which she discussed Moroccan women’s relation to politics in the Moroccan historical and contemporary records, concluding that “today, the 2011 constitution enshrines the principles of cultural and linguistic pluralism, individual rights and the equality of citizens – including of women and men.”

After the delivery of the two presentations, the floor was given to the audience, comprised of undergraduate and graduate students and some professors, to address their questions and comments to the speakers. Students’ comments and questions were diverse and plentiful. Their engagement in the seminar showed their enthusiasm for the issue of gender and its relation to Islam, an enthusiasm nurtured by similar academic discussions.