Amina Wadud

The first pro-faith attempt by a Muslim woman to present a comprehensive, female-inclusive reading of the "Qu'ran", the sacred Islamic text.

Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective

Qur'an and Woman

Women's Reform in Islam

Inside the Gender Jihad

Islamic Studies Professor Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies Amina Wadud

An examination of the efforts of Muslim women throughout the world to acquire equal status while preserving Muslim ideals is an introduction to the feminist movement in Islam that addresses such issues as the state of Muslim women's studies as a discipline in mainstream academia and the role of Muslim women in the domestic space. Original.

Qur'an and Women Rereading the Secrets Text From Woman's Perspective

This is an analysis of the concept of woman drawn directly from the Qur'an. An explicit attempt to return to the original source--the Qur'an--when the tendency has been to confuse the works of Islamic scholars with the Qur'an, it demonstrates that in order to maintain its relevance, the Qur'an must be continually reinterpreted; that the importance of the Qur'anic text is its transcendence of time and its expression of eternal values. It is not the text which restricts women, but the interpretations of the text which have come to be held in greater importance than the text. The significance of this analysis of the Qur'anic concept of woman is measured within the perspective of the text using it both as a force in history, politics, language, culture, intellect, and spirit, and as a divine text that presents guidance to humankind. This book sheds new light on the role of woman through reviewing the Qur'an itself with its principles of social justice and human equality and its objective of justice.

Fourteen centuries of Islamic thought have produced a legacy of interpretive readings of the Qu'ran written almost entirely by men. Now, with Qu'ran and Woman, Amina Wadud provides a first interpretive reading by a woman, a reading which validates the female voice in the Qu'ran and brings it out of the shadows. Muslim progressives have long argued that it is not the religion but patriarchal interpretation and implementation of the Qu'ran that have kept women oppressed. For many, the way to reform is the reexamination and reinterpretation of religious texts. Qu'ran and Woman contributes a gender inclusive reading to one of the most fundamental disciplines in Islamic thought, Qu'ranic exegesis. Wadud breaks down specific texts and key words which have been used to limit women's public and private role, even to justify violence toward Muslim women, revealing that their original meaning and context defy such interpretations. What her analysis clarifies is the lack of gender bias, precedence, or prejudice in the essential language of the Qur'an. Despite much Qu'ranic evidence about the significance of women, gender reform in Muslim society has been stubbornly resisted. Wadud's reading of the Qu'ran confirms women's equality and constitutes legitimate grounds for contesting the unequal treatment that women have experienced historically and continue to experience legally in Muslim communities. The Qu'ran does not prescribe one timeless and unchanging social structure for men and women, Wadud argues lucidly, affirming that the Qu'ran holds greater possibilities for guiding human society to a more fulfilling and productive mutual collaboration between men and women than as yet attained by Muslims or non-Muslims.

Amina Wadud

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