The fourth feminist wave is the emancipation wave of the Muslim woman!

In the last few days the Netherlands has been flooded with news about a committee of inquiry that interrogates mosques about their ideology and money flows. What struck me most were the huge amounts of money that the local mosques raised. They only had to cough, so to speak, or the millions of oil-dollars were credited to their bills. It is no wonder that these patriarchal men's strongholds are popping up like mushrooms in the Netherlands. Even the Dutch government is giving them a helping hand by subsidizing their activities and entering into all sorts of partnerships with them that only increase the power and status of these patriarchal strongholds. How sad is this compared to the emancipation movement of the Dutch Muslim woman?

In a conversation with Nenita La Rose-Lont, chairwoman of the Dutch women's council, I learned that women from almost all minority groups have their own women's council, except for those from the Moroccan community! Isn't it a shame that we, the group with the most problems are the least organized? We only have the MVVN (Moroccan Women's Association of the Netherlands), but this organisation has no members and no income, and its continued existence has been tied down since the government closed the subsidy tap for it. Unlike the mosques, it cannot appeal to the Dutch government (!!), nor to the charity organizations from Kuwait and the surrounding area.

We have been left to our own devices, while at the same time we are the ones who can change course when it comes to solving problems in our community. No youth worker can take over the task of a strong emancipated mother. And it is exactly those mothers who are abandoned.

Unlike existing Dutch Feminist groups in the Netherlands, we have to build our networks from scratch.  We do not have the support and know-how that modern intellectual feminists can call upon. Modern feminists have completely forgotten us, because in their eyes there are more important things such as gender-neutral toilets and the fight against the white man. These topics have blown over from the US and don't have the urgency that our cause has. In that respect, the pro-burka associations are much better organized and financed. They receive the support of both feminists and the wealthy patriarchal mosques.

But who supports us? We, the Muslim women who want to emancipate and organize ourselves? Who supports us to strengthen and spread our voice?

The outspoken and prominent Imam Elforkani said that he wants to build a mosque in every major city with Kuwaiti support. He may cherish that dream, but I grant myself my own dream and that is that in every mayor Dutch city a feminist stronghold of Muslim women (& minority women with a Muslim background, women from deprived areas, etc.)  will be created and will have a strong voice  and will have millions of dollars in their bank accounts that will be used for emancipation projects: like finding a job, support groups, lectures, powerlady action groups, collaborations with other feminists, demonstrations, and so on. Us Muslim women have to stop being islands. A Shirin Musa, an Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Fidan Ekiz cannot turn the tide. Only a tidal wave, a real women's movement can do that. We must stop arguing between left and right, at the expense of the Muslim woman who pulls the smallest fuse.

The late Pim Fortuyn who would have turned 72 yesterday had already understood that in order to be able to solve the problems of Muslim deprived areas, the Muslim woman must be helped in her emancipation. Unfortunately he died prematurely and since his death his plan has also been put to a halt: the emancipation of the Muslim woman.

Meanwhile, patriarchal Islamic organizations that undermine our emancipation are only getting bigger and more influential.

I plead for the Muslim woman to get a platform that is at least as large and powerful as the Muslim man. As a country, we cannot ignore the Muslim woman, because her powerlessness is not only her problem, but has become the problem of the whole of Dutch society. That is why I am pleading for the fourth feminist wave: the emancipation-wave of the Muslim woman. Let us for once ignore our political preferences and, irrespective of our backgrounds, join our hands together to form a big fist, a fist that stands up for the emancipation of Dutch Muslim women!

Salima el Musalima

Avantgarde Imam

Contact: avantgardeimam@gmail.com

Tel: +31 (0)638581991