To learn, We have to unlearn first.

We have to unlearn first...

It was through a lived experience of disillusionment—while enrolled in an online course at a religious institution—that I came to realize the first step of learning is, in fact, unlearning.

The institution was founded upon one of the newer interpretations of Islam, often labelled as “modern” or “inspired by the West” by mainstream Islamic schools of thought. Though I genuinely respect the founders of that school of thought and their enthusiasm for reinterpreting religion in response to modern social issues, I still believe there is a long way to go.

What disappointed me most was the inherent misogyny among the male students and the internalized misogyny among some of the women scholars. The moment they learned that I identified as a proud feminist, all the appreciation they had previously shown for my ideas—ideas that were, ironically, informed by the intellectual resources I had gained from studying feminism— were suddenly replaced by allegations. Their response was the same as always.

Many people reject the need to rethink their ideologies, insisting that their religions already provide eternal guidance. What they overlook, however, is that human understanding is always shaped by prevailing power structures. Only those religious teachings and interpretations that carry within them a principle of adaptability can withstand the shifting pressures of evolving social narratives. As patriarchal systems come under increasing global scrutiny, it is only the interpretations capable of enduring this challenge that will remain relevant.

These same individuals constantly demand that the mainstream understand the historical context and hermeneutical evolution of their school of thought—urging others to approach their scholarship from the place it originates. Yet they fail to extend the same critical generosity when discussing feminism. Most of them have never engaged with a single feminist text, whether political, social, or economic. Instead, their critiques rest on hearsay: the tired accusation that feminism is a reactive movement destroying the fabric of society. The same baseless rhetoric, rooted not in scholarship but in internalized misogyny—a discomfort with the idea of women creating a movement, a critique, and an epistemology that finally includes them as knowing subjects rather than objects, as they have been throughout history.