FREEDOM AND CHOICE IN ARAB MUSLIM WOMEN’S LIVES: A STUDY OF FEMINIST EXISTENTIALISM IN ALIFA RIFAAT’S A DISTANT VIEW OF A MINARET AND OTHER STORIES

Abstract

This study investigates how freedom and choice are negotiated under patriarchal constraints in Arab Muslim women’s lives, as represented in Alifa Rifaat’s A Distant View of a Minaret and Other Stories. Using feminist existentialist theory, particularly Simone de Beauvoir’s concepts of situated freedom and female subjectivity, and the research examines how women’s inner consciousness becomes a site of existential struggle rather than overt rebellion. Through a qualitative thematic analysis, the study focuses on five selected short stories to explore how domestic space, marriage, and silence shape women’s lived experiences. The analysis identifies four dominant indicators of feminist existential confinement: restricted agency within marriage, internalization of patriarchal norms, temporal stagnation through waiting and repetition, and silence as an existential response to oppression. Rifaat’s narratives emphasize endurance and reflective interiority as forms of survival rather than depicting dramatic resistance. Findings suggest that freedom in Rifaat’s fiction operates as a limited and negotiated condition, shaped by cultural, religious, and social structures. This study shows that feminist existentialism offers a meaningful way to understand how Arab Muslim women’s lives are shaped by constrained choices. This research extends feminist existentialist discussion beyond its usual Western focus and brings attention to women’s experiences in a different cultural context. It also highlights the quiet and everyday dimensions of women’s existential struggle. The study aligns with SDG 5 (Gender Equality) by examining how structural constraints limit women’s agency and voice.