Women in the Qur'an: An Emancipatory Reading

by Asma Lamrabet, Myriam Francois-Cerrah (Translator)

Overview

Today, the issue of Muslim women is held hostage between two perceptions: a conservative Islamic approach and a liberal Western approach. At the heart of this debate Muslim women are seeking to reclaim their right to speak in order to re-appropriate their own destinies, calling for the equality and liberation that is at the heart of the Qur'an.

However, with few female commentators on the meaning of the Qur'an and an overreliance on the readings of the Qur'an compiled centuries ago this message is often lost. In this book Asma Lamrabet demands a rereading of the Qur'an by women that focuses on its spiritual and humanistic messages in order to alter the lived reality on the ground.

By acknowledging the oppression of women, to different degrees, in social systems organized in the name of religion and also rejecting a perspective that seeks to promote Western values as the only means of liberating them, the author is able to define a new way. One in which their refusal to remain silent is an act of devotion and their demand for reform will lead to liberation.

Asma Lamarbet is a pathologist in Avicenna Hospital, Rabat, Morocco. She is also an award-winning author of many articles and books tackling Islam and women's issues.

Myriam Francois-Cerrah is a writer and broadcaster whose articles have been published in the Guardian, Salon, and elsewhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780993516610
Publisher:	Kube Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	05/24/2016
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	212
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Asma Lamrabet: Asma Lamrabet is currently working as a pathologist in Avicenna Hospital, Rabat, Morocco. She is also an award-winning author of many articles and books tackling Islam and women’s issues.
Myriam Francois-Cerrah: Myriam Francois-Cerrah is a writer and broadcaster with a focus on current affairs, France and the Middle East. Her articles have been published in the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the New Statesman, Salon, The Independent, The New Internationalist, the Huffington Post and elsewhere.

Table of Contents

Table of contents
1. Introducing the author

Foreword

A meeting with very different Muslim women…

Thanks

2. Introduction

Of which liberation do we speak?

In the beginning…

First part: when the Quran speaks about women

A story of all women

Bilq's, Queen of Sheeba, a democratic queen

Sarah and Hagar, monotheistic emblems

Zulaykha or forbidden love

Umm Musa and Assia, free women

The daughter of Shu’ayb and the meeting with Mūša

Maryam the favourite

Maryam, the link between Christians and Muslims

The birth of Maryam

Maryam’s spiritual retreat

Revelation and annunciation

The birth of ʿĪsā and all the struggles

Maryam and her son, a ‘sign’ for the worlds

3. Second part – When the Quran speaks to women

The language of the Quran, a masculine language?

When the Quran responds to female demands

The mubahalah or when the Quran encourages women to social participation

The muhajirat or the female political refugees

The mubayi'at or women’s political engagement

Al-Mujādilah, when God listens to women’s concerns

And the other verses?

Polygamy

Testimony

Inheritance

Hit them…?

4. Conclusion

Islam or the story of an aborted women’s revolution

6. Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

“Lamrabet writes with verve and spirit, a tone which Francois-Cerrah captures well in her translation…. [she] goes further than the work of previous Islamic feminists by drawing upon the women in the Quran and deftly identifying archetypes such as: The Mother, The Governor, The Passionate Woman, The Spiritual, and The Sacrificial.” – Bina Shah, sister-hood Magazine

“Lamrabet compellingly chronicles the lives of early Muslim women who stood up for their faith, and connects their resistance to political struggle.” – Bina Shah, sister-hood Magazine

“The book is definitely an interesting contribution to scholarship on women in Islam, and I found it quite digestible and enjoyable” – Nicole C, Muslima Media Watch

“Tell me more, Ms. Lamrabet, tell me more.” – Nicole C, Muslima Media Watch

“Bold and daring” – Papatia Feauxzar, djarabikitabs.com

"Want an end-of-summer beach read that’ll turn heads faster than a Burkini ban?" — Jasmine Bager, NiemanStoryboard

“Islam, Muslims and women—this is a subject of a huge number of writings that reflect diverse, mutually-contradictory positions… a welcome contribution to the corpus of writings on the issue... A wonderful, must-read book!” — Islamic Voices

From the Publisher