Gender And Self In Islam

Using philosophical analysis, this book explores the construction of gender in Muslim societies and its implication to the constitution of the self. The root of the existing discourse of the hierarchical principle is examined as is the extent to which the process of human reproduction, especially the role of women in conception, contributes to an anti-egalitarian theory of gender. The author analyzes the theological, cultural and political apparatus of the masculine conception of femininity and seeks to unfold the process of the alienation of the self from a woman’s sense of individuality, agency, and autonomy. Incorporating traditional Islamic sources, Western feminist texts and Christian texts, Gender and Self in Islam seeks to restructure the contradictory claims of gender hierarchy and egalitarianism and elaborate an alternative set of interpretations that is friendly and inclusive of women.

This book analyzes perceptions of self, power, agency, and gender of Muslim women in a rural community of Bangladesh. Rural women’s limited power and agency has been subsumed within the male dominated Islamic discourses on gender. However, many Muslim women have their own alternative discourses surrounding power and agency. Sarwar Alam intertwines an exploration of these power dynamics with reading of the Qur’an and Hadith, and analyzes how Muslim women’s perception of power and gender are linked to their relationship with religion.

This book explores how stereotypes of “oppressed Muslim women” feed into the self-representations of women with a Muslim background. The focus is on women active in, and speaking on behalf of, a wide variety of minority self-organisations in the Netherlands and Norway between 1975 and 2010. The author reveals how these women have internalised and appropriated particular stereotypes, and also developed counter-stereotypes about majority Dutch or Norwegian women. She demonstrates, above all, how they have tried time and again to change popular perceptions by providing alternative images of themselves and of Islam, paying particular attention to their attempts to gain access to media debates. Her central argument is that their efforts to undermine stereotypes can be understood as an assertion of belonging in Dutch and Norwegian society and, in the case of women committed to Islam, as a demand for their religion to be accepted. This innovative work provides a “history from below” that makes a valuable contribution to scholarly debates about citizenship as a practice of inclusion and exclusion. Providing new insights into the dynamics between stereotyping and self-representation, it will appeal to scholars of gender, religion, media, and cultural diversity.

An interdisciplinary anthology on the intersections of gender, Islam, and law

A classic, pioneering account of the lives of women in Islamic history, republished for a new generation This pioneering study of the social and political lives of Muslim women has shaped a whole generation of scholarship. In it, Leila Ahmed explores the historical roots of contemporary debates, ambitiously surveying Islamic discourse on women from Arabia during the period in which Islam was founded to Iraq during the classical age to Egypt during the modern era. The book is now reissued as a Veritas paperback, with a new foreword by Kecia Ali situating the text in its scholarly context and explaining its enduring influence. “Ahmed’s book is a serious and independent-minded analysis of its subject, the best-informed, most sympathetic and reliable one that exists today.”—Edward W. Said “Destined to become a classic. . . . It gives [Muslim women] back our rightful place, at the center of our histories.”—Rana Kabbani, The Guardian

Given the intense political scrutiny of Islam and Muslims, which often centres on gendered concerns, Islam and Gender: Major Issues and Debates is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the key topics, problems and debates in this engaging subject. Split into three parts, this book places the discussion in its historical context, provides up-to-date case studies and delves into contemporary debate on the subject. This book includes discussion of the following important topics: Marriage and divorce Interpretations of the Qur’an and Sunna Male and female sexuality and sexual diversity Classical Islamic thought on masculinity and femininity Gender and hadith Polygamy and inheritance Adultery and sexual violence Veiling, female circumcision and crimes of honour Lived religiosities Gender justice in Islam. Islam and Gender is essential reading for students in religious studies, Islamic studies and gender studies, as well as those in related fields, such as cultural studies, politics, area studies, sociology, anthropology and history.

In Gendered Morality, Zahra Ayubi rethinks the tradition of Islamic philosophical ethics from a feminist critical perspective. She calls for a philosophical turn in the study of gender in Islam based on resources for gender equality that are unlocked by feminist engagement with the Islamic ethical tradition.