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 the rest of the religious text. The Qur’an is continuous, self-clarifying, and self-defining. This is …
Continue reading Interpretation: the Qur’an as a Holistic Text
After divorce or widowhood, women in the first Muslim societies married and remarried without the disparagement of social stigma. It was not until the Abbasid era, upon the conquering of immensely patriarchal cultures and the expansive harems that arose in consequence, that the contractual rights of monogamy enforced by women began to erode, and the …
So I’ve already written about inheritance, but this evening, prompted by an article on AltMuslimah on the topic, Zeina and I decided to torture ourselves by figuring out how much daughters are entitled to inherit in each of the three instances outlined in the Qur’an (minus contextual application of exegesis). Check our math! It could …
I received two emails yesterday inquiring as to what I thought about the Goatmilk debate on the compatibility of Islam and feminism. Seeing as the argument of the opposition was a collection of the usual pedestrian perspectives that conclude the two are irreconcilable, I hadn’t planned on writing about what I’ve already addressed over a …
Continue reading On the Compatibility of Islam and Feminism: A Response to the Goatmilk Debate
In case you haven't read it already, "How dare you?!" by Metis: I feel that those who tell Muslim feminists that Islam and feminism are mutually exclusive are the ones who are denying Muslim women their rights. And I feel a certain hatred and fear in their stance. If you are telling a woman that …
Dun, dun, DUUUUUN! When there was paranoid talk of the 'creeping Shari’a' in the U.S. I responded with the usual scoffing and eye-rolling and exasperated exclamations of you totally do not even know what Shari’a is and also that is so not even happening. Of course, that last bit would be irrelevant—it doesn’t matter what …
Continue reading When we NEED Shari’a Law in the United States
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 or become protectors of society. In fact women who are privileged enough to be wealthy …
Continue reading Inequality Resulting from the Separation of Moral and Social Spheres
the fatal feminist 