Women and Gender in the Qur'an

by Celene Ibrahim

Overview

Stories about gendered social relations permeate the Qur'an, and nearly three hundred verses involve specific women or girls. The Qur'an features these figures in accounts of human origins, in stories of the founding and destruction of nations, in narratives of conquest, in episodes of romantic attraction, and in incidents of family devotion and strife. Overall, stories involving women and girls weave together theology and ethics to reinforce central Qur'anic ideas regarding submission to God and moral accountability. Celene Ibrahim explores the complex cast of female figures in the Qur'an, probing themes related to biological sex, female sexuality, female speech, and women in sacred history. Ibrahim considers major and minor figures referenced in the Qur'an, including those who appear in narratives of sacred history, in parables, in descriptions of the eternal abode, and in verses that allude to events contemporaneous with the advent of the Qur'an in Arabia. Ibrahim finds that the Qur'an regularly celebrates the aptitudes of women in the realms of spirituality and piety, in political maneuvering, and in safeguarding their own wellbeing; yet, women figures also occasionally falter and use their agency toward nefarious ends. Women and Gender in the Qur'an outlines how women and girls - old, young, barren, fertile, chaste, profligate, reproachable, and saintly -enter Qur'anic sacred history and advance the Qur'an's overarching didactic aims.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190063832
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	586,120
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Celene Ibrahim is a faculty member in the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy at Groton School. She has written extensively on themes related to women and gender in Muslim intellectual history and is a public voice on issues of religious pluralism. Ibrahim holds a PhD in Arabic and Islamic civilizations from Brandeis University, a master's of divinity from Harvard University, and a bachelor's degree with highest honors from Princeton University

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments Notes on Transliteration, Translation, and Abbreviations Introduction 1. Female Sex and Sexuality 2. Procreation, Parenting, and Female Kin 3. Women Speakers and Interlocutors 4. Women Exemplars for an Emerging Polity Conclusion Appendices Notes Bibliography Indices

Editorial Reviews

"This very readable book is an important intervention in the field of religion and gender and will benefit a wide range of audience, within and beyond the academy. The book will appeal to outsiders to Qur'ānic studies...Those within the field of Qur'ānic studies will profit from Ibrahim's many fresh exegetical insights, and by dialogue with her work our understanding of gender in the Qu'ān will be markedly advanced." — Tareq Moqbel, Regent's Park College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Religion and Gender

"...the appendices at the end of the work will be of particular interest to both scholars and students alike. Here Ibrahim collates all instances of female figures as well as female speech in the Qur'ān, which will undoubtedly be a valuable asset to any scholar working in this field." — F. Redhwan Karim, Markfield Institute of Higher Education, Reorient, Pluto Journals

"Overall, this very readable book is an important intervention in the field of religion and gender and will benefit a wide range of audience, within and beyond the academy. The book will appeal to outsiders to Qur'ānic studies—for instance, the various references to Biblical literature, especially in the endnotes, will be welcomed by Biblical studies specialists." — Tareq Moqbel, Regent's Park College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Religion and Gender

"Ibrahim's very fine work is an invaluable resource" — John Kaltner, Horizons

"essential reading" — Muhammad Misbah, Women's History Review

"The author manages to artfully take an issue related to gender under the subheading of her chosen areas and discuss it through the prism of modern nuanced political connotations ... The book provides excellent ideas about gender and women in the Qur'an and is a welcome contribution to the dynamic field of Qur'anic studies." — Shahrul Hussain, Ibn Rushd Centre of Excellence for Islamic Research, UK, The Muslim World Book Review

"Precise and illuminating." — Leila Karami, Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni

"Through analysis of female representations in the Qur'an, Ibrahim earns a place alongside noteworthy scholars such as Fazlur Rahman, Ingrid Mattson, Amina Wadud, and Barbara Stowasser.... Women and Gender in the Qur'an is a valuable resource for devotional and secular readers, those interested in women in scriptures, and scholars engaged in the study of the Qur'an more generally." — Studies in Religion

"Ibrahim's meticulous excavation of female figures in the Qur'an has made us all richer. Decades from now, this book will inspire scholars, feminists, Muslims, and a combination of the three. I highly and enthusiastically recommend her book to academics, researchers, Muslims, and astute readers alike." — Aayah Musa, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion

"A refreshing contribution to the growing scholarship on women and gender in qur'anic studies." — Hadia Mubarak, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion

"Celene Ibrahim's work, which surveys, documents, and critically analyzes the narratives, expositional references, and conceptual formulations of women and gender in the Qur'an, is an important and critical contribution for scholars engaged in the work of constructive Muslim theology, ethics, and qur'anic interpretation. As a work of qur'anic studies, Ibrahim has produced an invaluable reference for exploring the Qur'an's engagement with women, gender, sexuality, and family.... Ibrahim has assembled in Women and Gender in the Qur'an a handbook that not only will serve as an essential starting point for future researchers but also is itself a signif-icant articulation of Muslima hermeneutics." — Martin Nguyen, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion

"Ibrahim's work demonstrates that gender is a valuable analytical category for qur'anic studies that can deepen our understanding of qur'anic meaning, language, and chronology." — Rahel Fischbach, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion

"Well written and thoughtfully structured, the book is a valuable scholarly contribution to contemporary Muslim theological writing." — Choice

"Celene Ibrahim's Women and Gender in the Qur'an is a welcome and significant contribution to the growing scholarship on women and gender in Qur'anic studies." — Hadia Mubarak, Reading Religion

"Ibrahim shines new light on gender in the Qur'an with a comprehensive analysis of its narratives about women. Drawing out unexpected resonances between stories, she highlights their underlying thematic coherence. Her focus on the ethical and didactic force of the stories will be compelling both for people of faith (Muslim and otherwise) and for scholars and students seeking a holistic gender-sensitive reading of the Qur'an." — Marion Katz, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University

"Women and Gender in the Quran is a fine analysis of female agency, faith, wisdom, knowledge and proximity to God in Islam. Celene Ibrahim, a major voice in conversations about Islamic leadership in the United States, argues persuasively in this book that even if women are not explicitly named as prophets, they often function to confirm God's words and promises in the Quran. This book is a must-read for anybody interested in understanding female figures in the Quran." — Ousmane Kane, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor of Contemporary Islamic Religion and Society, Harvard University

"Celene Ibrahim's textual analysis and re-reading of sex, gender, and the female figures in the Qur'an is a timely and important contribution, which does not shy away from addressing difficult issues. It is welcome as a work of academic scholarship in the field of Qur'anic studies as well as one of Muslima theology." — Karen Bauer, author of Gender Hierarchy in the Qur'an: Medieval Interpretations, Modern Responses

"Celene Ibrahim's textual study Women and Gender in the Qur'an presents a multitude of new, insightful findings resulting from her shift in perspective and methodology within the research field. Her approach to the Qur'an involves a more open perspective on the issue of women and gender in the Qur'an...Specifically, Ibrahim examines the representation of female figures in narrative text structures, like those found in stories of the biblical prophets and those involving groups of women who are explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an, such as the women of the prophetic family (ahl al-bayt)." — Nimet Åeker, Humboldt-Universität, Berliner Institut für Islamische Theologie,Berlin, Germany, Die Welt des Islams

"Over a billion people claim Islam as their religious tradition, yet billions more know little or nothing about it, and even less about women in Islam. This scholarly yet accessible book provides a helpful overview of gender matters with abundant resources for future study. A serious volume for enrichment and collaboration across religious traditions." — Water Women Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Religion

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