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Title:	From conflict to transformation : a reading of selected Muslim women's self-narratives
Authors:	Roselind Haji Razali (P48524)
Supervisor:	Ruzy Suliza Hashim, Prof. Dr
Keywords:	Dissertations, Academic -- Malaysia
Issue Date:	17-Aug-2014
Description:	This study focuses on three selected self-narratives by minority Muslim women writers of various descents who are currently residing in different host countries: We are a Muslim, please by Pakistani British, Zaiba Malik, Standing Alone by Indian American, Asra Q. Nomani, and In the Land of Invisible Strangers by Pakistani British, Qanta A. Ahmed. The three selected texts are based on their unique portrayals of the spiritual/moral struggles and life challenges faced by minority Muslim women positioned in multiple contexts. In these self-narratives, the Muslim women often face competing binary discourses of Islam and the West/Orientalism. The Muslim Women's Self-Narrative framework utilised in this study is an eclectic framework based on the Self-Narrative Paradigm, Nicola Slee's (2004) Human Faith Dimension Paradigm, Islamic Paradigm of Selfhood and Womanhood, and Inclusive Paradigm of Identity and Agency. The analysis traces and explores thematic concerns particularly the selected Muslim women's physical and spiritual journeys which transcend both the geographical and imaginary borders and spaces. These struggles and closure are reflected in the two major themes of Slee's Human Faith Dimension Development, which are Conflict and Transformation, as presented in these chosen self-narratives. In these two themes, discussions of spiritual/moral struggles are revealed through the depiction of the Muslim women's relationships with God and others, termed as "hablum min Allah wa hablum min al-nas" and their spiritual battles against wrongdoings, labeled as "amr bi al-ma 'aruf wa al-nahyi 'an al-munkar". These Islamic concepts are informed by the Islamic Paradigm of the Correlational Self. Through the Inclusive Paradigm of Identity and Agency Framework, the findings show that the Muslim women characters in this study are constantly negotiating, broadening or adapting their sense of selves, agency and identities within the conflicting realities of their lives. Throughout these narratives, it is found that the self is relocated as relational and a process of transformation and healing. It is also discovered that these Muslim women often engage various forms of agency in reconciling their multiplicity of selves and identities. Additionally, the Muslim women's struggles against conflicts in order to achieve spiritual awakening bring forth unique and varied forms of agency and identity. The implication of this study is that minority Muslim women, whose journeys involve transformation and healing, often appropriate strategies which demonstrate their heterogeneity of responses and realities which take into account both the practices of the host societies and the beliefs of Islamic practices. Hence, this dismantles constructs that Muslim women are collectively homogeneous.,Ph.D
Pages:	266
Call Number:	P302 .R647 2014
Publisher:	UKM, Bangi
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan

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