Muslim Women and Gender Justice: Concepts, Sources, and Histories (Routledge Islamic Studies Series)

This volume brings together the work of a group of Islamic studies scholars from across the globe. They discuss how past and present Muslim women have participated in the struggle for gender justice in Muslim communities and around the world. The essays demonstrate a diversity of methodological approaches, religious and secular sources, and theoretical frameworks for understanding Muslim negotiations of gender norms and practices. Part I (Concepts) puts into conversation women scholars who define Muslima theology and Islamic feminism __vis-à-vis__ secular notions of gender diversity and discuss the deployment of the oppression of Muslim women as a hegemonic imperialist strategy. The chapters in Part II (Sources) engage with the Qur’an, __hadith__, and __sunna__ as religious sources to be examined and reinterpreted in the quest for gender justice as God’s will and the example of the Prophet Muhammad. In Part III (Histories), contributors search for Muslim women’s agency as scholars, thinkers, and activists from the early period of Islam to the present – from Southeast Asia to North America. Representing a transnational and cross-generational conversation, this work will be a key resource to students and scholars interested in the history of Islamic feminism, Muslim women, gender justice, and Islam. This volume brings together the work of a group of Islamic studies scholars from across the globe. They discuss how past and present Muslim women have participated in the struggle for gender justice in Muslim communities and around the world. The essays demonstrate a diversity of methodological approaches, religious and secular sources, and theoretical frameworks for understanding Muslim negotiations of gender norms and practices. Part I (Concepts) puts into conversation women scholars who define Muslima theology and Islamic feminism vis-à-vis secular notions of gender diversity and discuss the deployment of the oppression of Muslim women as a hegemonic imperialist strategy. The chapters in Part II (Sources) engage with the Qur’an, hadith, and sunna as religious sources to be examined and reinterpreted in the quest for gender justice as God’s will and the example of the Prophet Muhammad. In Part III (Histories), contributors search for Muslim women’s agency as scholars, thinkers, and activists from the early period of Islam to the present – from Southeast Asia to North America. Representing a transnational and cross-generational conversation, this work will be a key resource to students and scholars interested in the history of Islamic feminism, Muslim women, gender justice, and Islam. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Notes on contributors 8 Muslim women and gender justice: an introduction 12 Part I Concepts: Muslima theology, Islam, and feminism 26 1 Feminist exegesis and beyond: trajectories in Muslima theology 28 2 Islamic feminism by any other name 44 3 Islam and feminism: German and European variations on a global theme 57 4 Gender equal Islamic theology in Germany 73 Part II Sources: Qur’an, hadith, and history 98 5 Woman-man equality in creation: interpreting the Qur’an from a nonpatriarchal perspective 100 6 The pair in the Qur’an as sign of divine creation 117 7 With ʿA’isha in mind: reading Surat al-Nur through the Qur’an’s structural unity 134 8 The Qur’anic turn of women’s image: from being the object to the subject of history 151 9 Verse 4:34: Abjure symbolic violence, rebuff feminist partiality, or seek another hermeneutic? 181 Part III Histories: knowledge, authority, and activism 194 10 Umm Salama’s contributions: Qur’an, hadith, and early Muslim history as sources for gender justice 196 11 Religious educated women in early Islam: conceptions of women’s images in Arab-Islamic texts until the tenth century 215 12 Challenging the authority of religious interpretation in Saudi Arabia: the transformation of Suhaila Zain al-Abedin Hammad 232 13 Leading the way: women’s activism, theology, and women’s rights in Southeast Asia 248 Index 270 "This volume brings together the work of a group of Islamic studies scholars from across the globe. They discuss how past and present Muslim women have participated in the struggle for gender justice in Muslim communities and around the world. The essays demonstrate a diversity of methodological approaches, religious and secular sources, and theoretical frameworks for understanding Muslim negotiations of gender norms and practices. Part I (Concepts) puts into conversation women scholars who define Muslima theology and Islamic feminism vis-à-vis secular notions of gender diversity and discuss the deployment of the oppression of Muslim women as a hegemonic imperialist strategy. The chapters in Part II (Sources) engage with the Qur'an, Hadith, and Sunna as religious sources to be examined and reinterpreted in the quest for gender justice as God's will and the example of the Prophet Muhammad. In Part III (Histories), contributors search for Muslim women's agency as scholars, thinkers, and activists from the early period of Islam to the present, and from Southeast Asia to North America. Representing a transnational and cross-generational conversation as well, this work will be a key resource to students and scholars interested in the history of Islamic feminism, Muslim women, gender justice and Islam"-- Provided by publisher