Fatima Seedat

Fatima Seedat is a South African feminist, Islamic scholar and women's rights activist. She is known for her scholarly work on gender and Islamic law, and Islam and feminism.

Quotes

• As current and past events show us, this is an extremely apt point. Let us not forget Germany's international human rights campaign ad which depicted a woman in a blue burqa posed next to blue trash bags. This picture and its role in advocating for women’s rights is discussed by Maya Dusenbery in Feministing, an online platform run by and for young feminists dedicated to viewing the world through a feminist lens.
• The picture couldn’t be any more clear; women wearing veils, hijabs or burqas are in need of the West’s superior morals, education and protection. Dusenbery aptly terms this campaign and the message behind it as ‘paternalistic bullshit.’ Campaigns such as this do the opposite of help women, they only serve to burden them with another obstacle to overcome, imposed by Westerners who refuse to listen with respect.
• Instead of women of colour not being recognised within the movement at all, they’re now being ‘othered’ to such an extent that the white Western feminist is cast in the role of educated saviour, and women of colour cast in the roles of uneducated victims in desperate need of feminism as the white woman sees it.

• Though many people may feel that Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent principles are no longer relevant, I believe these principles are more relevant than ever in today's very violent world.
  • Meer reflected on Gandhi's legacy and argued that non-violence remained essential in confronting modern conflict and injustice.

• Nelson wrote me a letter in 1971 in which he expressed very strong reservations about writing an autobiography.
  • Meer recounted how Mandela explained his reluctance to write an autobiography, leading her to propose writing his biography instead.

• The first time that we met Winnie, we didn't think that she was his beloved.
  • Meer recounted her first meeting with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela after Nelson Mandela asked her family to receive Winnie at a railway station in Durban.