Islamic Feminism: A Discourse of Gender Justice and Equality
Faculty Sponsor(s)
Bill Millar & Dawn Nowacki
Location
Jereld R. Nicholson Library
Subject Area
Religious Studies
Description
This paper evaluates the growing academic literature on reform-oriented Muslim scholar-activists and specifically focuses on the ways in which Islamic feminists reinterpret the Qur’an by employing ijtihad and tafsir to 1) contextualize verses' revelation; 2) search for the best meaning as charged to the Qur’an; 3) compare specific words or ayat with the syntactical composition elsewhere in the sacred text; and to 4) read ayat and suras in a holistic manner with the Qur’an’s broader thematic message in mind. These scholars and activists critically analyze Islamic theology by employing hermeneutics in order to produce Islamic exegeses that affirm social justice, gender equality, and liberation. Muslim scholar-activists engage in this work to re-appropriate their cultural self-definition by emphasizing the socio-political environments that shaped the interpretations of the Qur’an and Hadiths in order to promote justice and affirm gender equality within an Islamic paradigm. A liberatory theology legitimized by Islamic sacred texts not only confronts systemic and systematic repressive practices against women but also mandates reflexive change in Islamic societies. Their reinterpretations set the foundation for Islamic feminists' activism in broader society that seeks to eliminate social discrimination, promote social justice, and progress human equality and dignity. This examination of Muslim scholar activists' hermeneutics illustrates that Islamic feminism is a viable avenue to empower Muslim women and foster grass-roots cultural transformation in Muslim societies towards more gender egalitarian attitudes and practices. I argue that Islamic feminist scholars’ hermeneutics unshackles Islam’s liberatory theology and egalitarian message from patriarchal inaccuracies.
Recommended Citation
Ribeiro, Breanna, "Islamic Feminism: A Discourse of Gender Justice and Equality" (2014). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 48.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2014/all/48
Islamic Feminism: A Discourse of Gender Justice and Equality
Jereld R. Nicholson Library
This paper evaluates the growing academic literature on reform-oriented Muslim scholar-activists and specifically focuses on the ways in which Islamic feminists reinterpret the Qur’an by employing ijtihad and tafsir to 1) contextualize verses' revelation; 2) search for the best meaning as charged to the Qur’an; 3) compare specific words or ayat with the syntactical composition elsewhere in the sacred text; and to 4) read ayat and suras in a holistic manner with the Qur’an’s broader thematic message in mind. These scholars and activists critically analyze Islamic theology by employing hermeneutics in order to produce Islamic exegeses that affirm social justice, gender equality, and liberation. Muslim scholar-activists engage in this work to re-appropriate their cultural self-definition by emphasizing the socio-political environments that shaped the interpretations of the Qur’an and Hadiths in order to promote justice and affirm gender equality within an Islamic paradigm. A liberatory theology legitimized by Islamic sacred texts not only confronts systemic and systematic repressive practices against women but also mandates reflexive change in Islamic societies. Their reinterpretations set the foundation for Islamic feminists' activism in broader society that seeks to eliminate social discrimination, promote social justice, and progress human equality and dignity. This examination of Muslim scholar activists' hermeneutics illustrates that Islamic feminism is a viable avenue to empower Muslim women and foster grass-roots cultural transformation in Muslim societies towards more gender egalitarian attitudes and practices. I argue that Islamic feminist scholars’ hermeneutics unshackles Islam’s liberatory theology and egalitarian message from patriarchal inaccuracies.
