Decolonizing Liberal Feminism – Questioning Choices & Freedom in the Rhetoric of Saving by Huma Iqbal

In the wake of the attack on a Muslim imam, with his veiled wife in Melbourne on January 12, 2026, we are reminded of the Islamophobic violence targeting hijab-wearing women around the world. Concerns persist about ongoing Islamophobic attacks, from the murder of a German Muslim woman for wearing a hijab in July 2025, to the Bihar Chief Minister pulling down a Muslim woman’s hijab in December 2025. According to Reuters, data from various rights organizations indicate that Muslim women, particularly those who wear hijabs, face disproportionate levels of discrimination and hate crimes in parts of the EU.

These recent incidents remind me of Abu Lughod’s work, ‘Do Muslim Women Need Saving?’ 2013). Lila Abu-Lughod is a Palestinian American anthropologist and feminist scholar. She is known for her work on gender, Islam, media, and power in the Middle East. In her work, she critiques colonial and imperial feminism and advocates for culturally sensitive and context-based analysis of the lives of Muslim women.

Violence in the form of everyday microaggressions faced by Hijab-wearing women in the Western world stems mostly from liberal feminist ideologies normalized in the Western media. According to Abu Lughod (2013), associating hijab with oppression reinforces a colonial feminist narrative that views these women as needing to be saved. Such an oversimplified ideology of hijab-wearing women’s lives perpetuates harmful stereotypes that depict Muslim women as passive and non-agents. This rhetoric not only fails to bridge cultural divides but also fosters a false sense of superiority among Western feminists, further entrenching imperialist attitudes.

How certain are the liberal feminists that the veil is a sign of oppression for Muslim women? Is it the passivity of the Muslim Women or the pride of colonialism that is perceived as an oppression? Can we not think of it as a mere difference of perception or culture that is misunderstood? How can we deal with such differences without agreeing to the passivity of Muslim Women?

Colonized ideologies that impose their values on Islamic cultures imply a narrow understanding of women’s rights and autonomy. Such a colonial feminist view overlooks an important aspect of the Muslim women’s identity, freedom, and choice, which fails to acknowledge that for many women, wearing a hijab is an expression of their autonomy and cultural identity, but not suppression.

By unraveling the complexities of freedom and choice, we can challenge the sense of superiority often linked to liberal feminism and foster a more inclusive understanding of empowerment. Decolonizing feminism requires us to appreciate the agency of hijab-wearing women, recognizing their choice as a form of expression rather than a symbol of oppression. It is crucial to understand that there are no universal standards for evaluating cultures. Each culture has its own unique set of values and norms, which should be understood within its specific context, without imposing one’s own definitions of normality. Therefore, it is essential to make a conscious effort to grasp how different cultures operate on their own terms, allowing us to foster a deeper appreciation and respect for their distinct ways of life.

The notion of cultural relativism is to understand the difference in perception of the Muslim Women and their own. The veil that is believed to subjugate Muslim Women by white feminists, in reality, is considered as ‘mobile homes’ (Abu Lughod, 2013), ‘portable seclusion’ (Papanek, 1982), ‘a liberating invention’ by Muslims, as it provides the Muslim women with the protection and privacy of their homes, similar to the analogy of precious diamonds, that are concealed.

Abu Lughod (2013), in her work, ‘Do Muslim Women Need Savings?’ mentions how the Muslim women in the East would be shocked on realizing the perspective of Western women regarding veils. How clearly ‘a sign of oppression’ in the West becomes a ‘sign of piety’ for the Muslim women with cultural understanding. Bared skin and flaunted sexuality are not a sign of women’s freedom and equality in every woman’s eyes. Western feminism that proclaims to defend, elevate, and fight for the rights of Muslim Women, in reality, subjugates them even further by generating policies and social dynamics that make it difficult for women to function independently, according to their own choice and will.

Emphasizing diversity, Abu Laghod (2013) suggests, ’Colonial feminists who advocate universal standards of gender equality should understand the differences in culture, race, class position, and geographical location that shape each individual’s experiences differently, hence their rights and expectations. How can women who belong to different backgrounds be a homogenized group or undifferentiated single gender? Depending upon their cultural background, conditioning, affordances, and availability, people prefer different rights and duties, which are, in consideration with, their community and identity. How can you extract the Muslim females from their Islamic context to fit into your understanding of female freedom? How can you consider two billion Muslims to be carbon copies of a specific Arab culture? Muslim diversity must be understood, just as we interpret the diversity of Christians and Jews in terms of social and contextual existence.

The imposition of Western notions of choice and freedom on other cultures, based on the belief that these “others” lack agency, reflects a subtle sense of superiority inherent in Western feminist ideology. This perspective often defines what Choice and Freedom should mean for the rest of the world, disregarding diverse cultural contexts and interpretations. What if we think of choice itself as an impoverished account of freedom? Don’t you think the choices we make limit our access to other resources and options? If choices constrain the freedom of individuals, both Western and Eastern, what if they particularly limit the choices of Muslim women?

The desire of an individual is shaped by their own limitations, conditions, and opportunities available to them. “We are placed in certain social classes and communities in specific countries at distinct historical moments” (Abu Lughod, 2013), and these geographical, political, and social conditions and classes define our choices and freedom. Most of the Muslim women make choices that may appear to be sacrificial, on the outside, but are very liberating and peaceful, on the inside, as they have a greater purpose attached to it. Muslim women find peace and solace in the Islamic principles. They choose to compromise for greater purposes. This compromise is itself a choice that liberates them from the constraints of time and space.

How can a Western culture impose its concept of Choice and Freedom on Women who do not desire it? How can liberal feminism decide if its choice is suffocating, oppressive or liberating? Their choice is based on the argument that people do not fully control their lives and choices.

Liberal feminists need to reflect on whether choice is the ultimate value or is another step towards limitations in options or confinement. They must question themselves if ‘choice is the only litmus test of a worthy life.’ (Abu Lughod,2013). How many females with liberal ideology are satisfied with the choices they made? How can outsiders understand if the burqa symbolizes constraint or freedom for individuals? How can they decide if the dress is worn out of pressure or fashion, or as a habit?’ How can we decide if a burqa-clad woman can exercise agency or not? It is the secular progressives who entertain this obsession with constraint.

Colonialism – a psychological battle where destroying female covering has been a critical part of imperialism. We can announce the rhetoric of Saving as the rhetoric of colonialism, as it attempts to undermine the cultures of the colonized societies beyond Western borders. Such Rhetoric of well-being, without complete religious and cultural understanding, does not accomplish equality, but propagates violence.

Reference: Abu-Lughod, L. (2013). Do Muslim Women Need Saving? Harvard University Press.

BIO Huma Iqbal PhD student at the University of Arizona. I am particularly interested in feminism, equity, and fostering inclusivity within a diverse community.