Probing Macro and Microstructures in Aafia Siddiqui’s Speech “Women’s right in Islam”: A Critical Discourse Analysis for the Use of Ideology and Power Dynamics

Abstract

This study reviews Aafia Siddiqui’s speech on “Women’s rights in Islam” watched by millions of viewers on YouTube at Houston in 1991. It reveals some key issues of dominance, ideology, manipulation, authority, and power. This study uses the framework of critical discourse analysis (CDA) by Van Dijk (1980) to investigate the macro and microstructures in speech and the hidden motives behind these discourse structures. The qualitative data for this study consist of the transcribed speech, given in English containing 2610 words. The macro propositions in the speech reveal findings of the study that summarize global, regional, and national issues revolving around the rights and status of women in society. The themes are identified as rights of women, obligations of men, Islam _the best provider for men and women, duties of an ideal Muslim woman, comparison between the western non-Muslim women and Muslim women, un-Islamic practices, the history of woman in Islam, failures of Muslims in the modern world, and a dire need for revolution in spreading Islam. The microstructures, including pronouns, presupposition, conjunction, lexis, rhetorical questions, references, number game, and modality help the speaker to present her ideological beliefs and social identity in the wake of various issues.