Description
Book SynopsisSince the 1980s, Muslim women reformers have made great strides in critiquing and reinterpreting the Islamic tradition. Yet these achievements have not produced a significant shift in the lived experience of Islam, particularly with respect to equality and justice in Muslim families. A new approach is needed: one that examines the underlying instruments of tradition and explores avenues for effecting change. In Islamic Interpretive Tradition and Gender Justice leading intellectuals and emerging researchers grapple with the problem of entrenched positions within Islam that affect women, investigating the processes by which interpretations become authoritative, the theoretical foundations upon which they stand, and the ways they have been used to inscribe and enforce gender limitations. Together, they argue that the Islamic interpretive tradition displays all the trappings of canonical texts, canonical figures, and canon law despite the fact that Islam does not ordain religious authorit
Trade Review"Islamic Interpretive Tradition and Gender Justice offers many original and compelling insights into Qur'anic exegesis, Muslim laws, and Islamic traditions and is likely to open up new interpretive horizons for rethinking religious knowledge." Asma Barlas, Ithaca College and author of Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an
