I know very little about the Muslim religion, but I do know from my own experiences with Christianity that being a Christian doesn't mean you have to accept the entire Christian religion as your belief system. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus, however, I also believe that Mary Magdalen was Jesus' wife and the 13th apostle. I also believe in reincarnation and that, yes, dogs do go to heaven. Yet, I do call myself a Christian because that is the basis for my belief system.

So, from my own experiences, I know what it's like to embrace a particular religion, yet also denounce parts of it at the same time, kind of melding together bits and pieces to make your own belief system. This is why I call myself "spiritual" instead of "religious."
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The way that you have phrased this question implies that there is such a thing as True Feminism, and a right and proper way to be a Feminist. It also implies there is some monolithic thing called Being-a-Muslim and all Muslim thought and culture is the same.

It's rather as if a fundamentalist Muslim were to ask if there is any way that a woman can be a feminist and yet truly be a Muslim.

Or if a conservative Christian were to ask if being a Gay Christian isn't an oxymoron.

As someone that's experienced different cultures, you can probably see that all you are really doing with questions like that is exploring your own preconceptions and your own uses of words.

In fact it's probably just a long way round of saying "I don't agree with you, and I deny the validity of your views, and your right to hold them."

In this case, the woman seems very intelligent and articulate, and is deliberately using the words she uses to provoke thought.

-- Quote

"To people from the West I may seem a contradiction," she said in excellent English, her diction a tip-off to an upbringing in a wealthy family and a college education....

If she ever has a daughter, she said, maybe she will be a prime minister.

-- /Quote

I'm not going to tell you that a woman who thinks her daughter should have every right to be the leader of her country is not a "true feminist" because she also believes in a dress code that I find strange.

I'll tell you one thing about dress codes and sexuality. All cultures have them, and all of them think the other cultures that have looser codes are strange, decadent or immoral, and other cultures that have stricter codes are stupid, oppressive or prudish.

Hunter-gatherer tribes that don't wear a lot more than a string would find your own views about what is acceptable dress to be just as odd as you find the burqa.

However they would feel quite undressed and abashed if they had to go out without their string.
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Feminist means "pro woman" and "pro women's rights" - lots of wriggle room in a vague definition like that, but you'd have to be a jerk not to be a "feminist."

Apparently, in some fundamentalist chauvinistic circles, people are falling all over themselves to admit to being complete and total jerks.

Now, that said, within "feminism" there's a lot of variation. In America, for example, there are feminists that are anti-porn (because it degrades women) and feminists that are pro-porn (because some women take control and make careers out of it). That might help your perspective on Muslim feminists, who certainly also have wide-ranging views on their goals too.
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First, whether it is possible to be a feminist and a Muslim or not, this woman is clearly not one of them. On almost all issues she is clearly in favor of the traditional oppression of women. She apparently actively does so herself.

It seems likely that it would be possible for a liberal Muslim, if there are any, to be a true feminist. Although most Muslim oppression of women seems to be cultural, there does seem to be some that is built into the religion. However, that is true of Judaism too, and that has by no means stopped Jewish women from becoming true feminists. They are from the liberal and moderate versions of that religion. It is not clear that liberal or even moderate versions of Islam exist at present, but they could in the future.
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A feminist is one who believes in the in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. So a very religious Muslim woman cannot be a feminist. They did not believe in equality. To be a true religious Muslim, the women are supposed to cover their head in certain way. But the Muslim men are not required to do so.
Asiyah Andrabi said" "If gold is left uncovered along a roadside, anyone will grab it, because it is a precious thing. It is the same with an uncovered woman."If she cannot believe that women are just human beings and men can control their emotions about women, how can she work for equality?
She can't even believe that non Muslims are human beings just like her. She can't understand the concept of freedom of religion. I guess, this question is grabbing more attention than she actually deserves.
Source(s):
http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/andrabi.htm

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Yes it is impossible for this to be true.
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Benazir Bhutto, born 21 June 1953, murdered because she was a Muslim feminist, 27 December 2007

http://kamranjawaid.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/benazir_bhutto.jpg

Here is her wikipedia page;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benazir_Bhutto
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Feminists and 'equal rights' supporters try to achieve a goal within an environment where this goal is not taken for granted. Western feminists had and have to fight against prejudice of western (religious) men against women in the working place, having careers or even the right to vote.
These feminists were (mostly) women who stood right in the middle of their society. They were often religious themselves, and often very patriotic.

Does the fact that they didn't agree with the basis of their social environment mean they cannot be part of that same social environment? No. They are an active part of the dynamics of that environment, and by being part of that environment, they try to change the ways of that social environment.

In our western world, it has taken almost a century to get to the point where we are right now, and all that time, western feminists have been right at the center of our society, working hard to achieve their goals.

So, now we see that the Muslim world is going through a similar movement of female liberation. Women are slowly standing up and try to achieve similar freedom as they see that western women have. Just like the western women, they are at the center of their society, and will have to struggle to incorporate female freedom into their Muslim society. Are they less Muslim because of that? Quite the opposite, I would say. They are some of the most involved Muslims, and deeply care about their religion.

So does the muslim feminist exist: Most definitely!
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Yes, it is. I know several Muslim women who are quite active with femenist issues.

What you mean to ask is whether or not a Muslim woman can be feminist if she's also elected to be compliant with sharia law.

Remember that all sharia-compliant people are muslim, but not all muslims are sharia.
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