Category Archives: Quran

Patriarchal Hypocrisy and Shifts of Privilege: The Qur’an and the Woman’s Perspective

Posted on May 25, 2012 by

Islam, like most religions at conception, was produced to liberate the oppressed before it was seized by oppressors and weaponized against those who had discovered a restoration of freedom and rights through it. The most striking, recurring incident of this … Continue reading →

Posted in feminism, Islam, misconceptions, privilege, Quran | 6 Comments

Loving this World, Work, and the Privilege of Contemplation

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

Religious leaders during sermons often advise their congregations not to love this world, explicably sensing that love of this world will replace the love of God. While this is a justifiable claim—people enraptured in the material often experience emptiness which … Continue reading →

Posted in feminism, Muslims, privilege, Quran | Tagged | 2 Comments

On Interpreting the Qur’an and Subjectivity

Posted on April 28, 2012 by

As someone who has studied Arabic for a couple of years, compelled primarily by a desire to understand the Qur’an, and who remembers the frustration of not being able to understand it (and is aware of it still, because I … Continue reading →

Posted in feminism, interpretation, Islam, Muslims, privilege, Quran | 13 Comments

Rejecting Your Sense of Justice is Rejecting a Device of God

Posted on March 14, 2012 by

This post is brought to you by a bewildering conversation I had a while ago in which an XY tried to mansplain to me that his interpretation of a specific verse pertaining to women is not unjust because it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Islam, Muslims, privilege, Quran | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Taken Out of Context: the Feminization of Divinity

Posted on March 10, 2012 by

I’ve received questions, a couple in passing and one in an email, regarding the intense opposition in the Qur’an against worshipping female deities as well as the incidental clarification that angels are not female (chapter 53) and the apparent misogyny … Continue reading →

Posted in feminism, interpretation, Islam, misconceptions, Quran | 9 Comments

Interpretation: the Qur’an as a Holistic Text

Posted on January 31, 2012 by

A methodological approach that has been mentioned on this site numerous times in passing is the consideration of the Qur’an holistically; that is, each verse contains the message of the entire Qur’an within it. One verse cannot be isolated from … Continue reading →

Posted in interpretation, Islam, misconceptions, Quran, social justice | 4 Comments

Inequality Resulting from the Separation of Moral and Social Spheres

Posted on January 6, 2012 by

For an overwhelming number of verses, the Qur’an holds men and women equally accountable in communal spheres of responsibilities such as upholding equity and securing justice (4:135), contrary to the misconception that women are not expected to maintain financial security … Continue reading →

Posted in feminism, Islam, misconceptions, Quran | 18 Comments

Praying in Arabic

Posted on December 29, 2011 by

When the sun is overturned When the stars fall away When the mountains are moved When the ten-month pregnant camels are neglected When the beasts of the wild shall be mustered When the seas are boiling When the girl-child, buried … Continue reading →

Posted in Islam, Muslims, Quran | 12 Comments

Appreciating Social Justice from the Unseen

Posted on November 22, 2011 by

I want to talk about ji’had (struggle), and I want to talk about it at its most basic elementary level to demonstrate how it relates to social justice, and, is essentially, at the core of striving toward it. And I … Continue reading →

Posted in Islam, Quran, social justice | 3 Comments

The Unrecognized Prophetess

Posted on November 16, 2011 by

When she had delivered, she said: “O my Lord! Behold! I am delivered of a female child!” —and God knew best what she delivered— “And no wise is the male like the female. I have named her Maryam (Mary), and … Continue reading →

Posted in feminism, Islam, misconceptions, Quran | 14 Comments