The Historical and Intellectual Formation of Feminism in the Thought of Leila Ahmed: A Critical Study of Muslim Feminism and Colonial Discourse لیلیٰ احمد کے فکری تناظر میں فیمنزم کی تاریخی اور فکری تشکیل: مسلم فیمنزم اور نوآبادیاتی بیانیے کا ایک تنقیدی مطالعہ

الملخص

This research-oriented and critical study explores the historical and intellectual formation of feminism through the theoretical framework of Leila Ahmed, a leading Muslim feminist scholar. The study aims to reconceptualize feminism not as a universal or monolithic ideology, but as a discourse shaped by specific historical, cultural, and colonial contexts. Drawing primarily on Ahmed’s seminal work Women and Gender in Islam, the paper examines how Western feminist narratives have historically constructed representations of Muslim women within colonial discourse, and how Ahmed critically deconstructs these representations. The study further highlights Ahmed’s reinterpretation of Islamic history and textual traditions to reassess women’s status in Muslim societies. By challenging both Western hegemonic feminism and indigenous patriarchal structures, Leila Ahmed offers an alternative feminist epistemology that plays a significant role in the intellectual formation of Muslim feminism. This research thus contributes meaningfully to contemporary feminist and gender studies scholarship.