"Believing Women" in Islam

What is "Believing Women" in Islam by Asma Barlas about?

• Critical examination of patriarchy: The book investigates whether the Qur'an is inherently patriarchal or misogynistic, challenging dominant interpretations that privilege men.
• Hermeneutical framework: Asma Barlas develops a Qur'anic hermeneutics rooted in divine ontology, emphasizing God's unity, justice, and lack of gender, to argue for an egalitarian reading.
• Scope and aim: The book covers Qur'anic teachings on family, marriage, sex/gender, and critiques both traditional and secular/feminist readings, aiming to empower Muslim women from within the tradition.
• Liberatory goal: Barlas seeks to recover the scriptural basis for sexual equality in Islam and provide tools for contesting oppressive interpretations.

Why should I read "Believing Women" in Islam by Asma Barlas?

• Correcting misconceptions: The book dispels the widespread belief that the Qur'an inherently supports patriarchy, showing that many such readings are misinterpretations shaped by history and culture.
• Theological and hermeneutical insight: Readers gain a deep understanding of how the Qur'an’s conception of God as just and unsexed undermines patriarchal authority.
• Contemporary relevance: The book addresses modern feminist and secular critiques, offering a nuanced response that respects the Qur'an’s sacredness while advocating for gender justice.
• Empowerment for Muslim women: It provides a Qur'anic basis for women to claim equality and rights from within their religious tradition.

What are the key takeaways from "Believing Women" in Islam by Asma Barlas?

• Qur'an’s egalitarian message: The Qur'an affirms the ontological equality of men and women, making them mutual protectors and vice-regents on earth.
• Difference vs. inequality: Gender differences are recognized but not equated with inequality or male superiority; patriarchal norms are historically contingent, not divinely mandated.
• Critique of patriarchal exegesis: Many patriarchal readings are products of male-dominated interpretive traditions, not faithful to the Qur'an’s core teachings of justice and mutuality.
• Need for critical rereading: Recovering the Qur'an’s egalitarian vision requires challenging entrenched patriarchal interpretations and applying ethical responsibility in interpretation.

How does Asma Barlas define patriarchy in "Believing Women" in Islam?

• Continuum of patriarchy: Patriarchy is defined as a continuum from God-as-Father and father/husband rule to the privileging of males through sexual differentiation.
• Not Qur'an-based: The Qur'an does not support patriarchal authority or male supremacy; instead, it dislocates father/husband rule and theories of male sovereignty.
• Patriarchy as shirk: Barlas argues that patriarchal authority borders on shirk (associating partners with God), which is condemned in the Qur'an.
• Theological and epistemological focus: The definition highlights how patriarchal readings violate the Qur'an’s conception of God and justice.

What is Asma Barlas’s approach to Qur'anic hermeneutics in "Believing Women" in Islam?

• Polysemy and context: Barlas emphasizes the Qur'an’s polysemic nature and the necessity of contextual and holistic reading.
• Rejecting interpretive relativism: Not all readings are equally valid; interpretations must align with the Qur'an’s principles of justice, kindness, and equality.
• Theological grounding: Hermeneutics should be rooted in the Qur'an’s portrayal of God as just and unsexed, avoiding readings that attribute injustice or male privilege to God.
• Moral responsibility: Interpreters have an ethical obligation to seek the best meanings and avoid misreadings that distort the Qur'an’s message.

How does "Believing Women" in Islam by Asma Barlas address the role of tafsīr and ahādith in shaping patriarchal interpretations?

• Tafsīr as interpretive tradition: Tafsīr developed to explain the Qur'an’s polysemy but was shaped by scholars’ religious, political, and cultural contexts, often overshadowing the Qur'an itself.
• Ahādith’s influence: Prophetic traditions, compiled centuries after the Prophet, incorporated pre-Islamic and misogynistic ideas, becoming authoritative for law and exegesis.
• State and scholarly collusion: Early Muslim states and religious elites used tafsīr and ahādith to legitimize their authority, embedding patriarchal norms into Islamic tradition and law.
• Confusion of sources: Patriarchal readings often conflate the Qur'an with tafsīr and ahādith, ignoring the Qur'an’s polysemy and historical context.

What is the significance of divine unity (Tawhīd) and divine ontology in Asma Barlas’s reading of the Qur'an?

• God as unsexed and just: The Qur'an’s depiction of God as unsexed/ungendered and just is foundational, precluding any justification for male supremacy or patriarchal authority.
• Tawhīd and anti-patriarchy: Divine unity means God’s sovereignty cannot be shared or represented by male authority; claims of male rule as divine are theologically unsound.
• Patriarchy as shirk: Male claims to authority over women that infringe on God’s sovereignty amount to shirk, a grave violation in Islam.
• Basis for egalitarian hermeneutics: Centering interpretation on a just and unsexed God allows for readings that affirm sexual equality and challenge patriarchal norms.

How does "Believing Women" in Islam by Asma Barlas interpret the Qur'an’s teachings on sex, gender, and sexuality?

• Ontological equality: Men and women originate from a single Self (nafs) and share the same nature, establishing equality rather than hierarchy.
• No sexual differentiation theory: The Qur'an does not espouse gender essentialism or treat men and women as binary opposites; difference is not a basis for inequality.
• Sexuality as mutual and moral: Sexual relations are natural and positive within moral limits, with mutual love, mercy, and consent emphasized for both sexes.
• Gender roles as flexible: The Qur'an recognizes gender roles but does not rigidly define or assign them ontological status, allowing for social change.

What does "Believing Women" in Islam by Asma Barlas say about the Qur'an’s teachings on marriage and family roles?

• Mutuality and equality: Marriage is based on mutual love, mercy, and tranquility, with spouses as each other’s protectors, implying equality and shared responsibility.
• Displacement of father-right: The Qur'an repudiates father/husband rule and does not sacralize men as rulers or owners of wives and children.
• Mothers’ elevated status: Mothers are given special reverence linked to God-consciousness, often elevated above fathers in the Qur'anic framework.
• Conditional obedience: Children’s obedience to parents is conditional on not conflicting with obedience to God, and the Qur'an condemns practices like female infanticide.

How does Asma Barlas interpret the controversial Qur'anic verse 4:34 about men’s role and wife discipline?

• Men as providers, not rulers: The term qawwāmūn refers to financial responsibility, not authority or rulership over women.
• Daraba’s multiple meanings: The word daraba, often translated as “beat,” can also mean “to separate” or “to set an example,” and does not support wife-beating as normative.
• Contextual and restrictive reading: The verse outlines a process for resolving marital discord, emphasizing reconciliation and legal arbitration, not violence or abuse.
• Misinterpretation critique: Classical and patriarchal readings often ignore the verse’s context and the Qur'an’s overall egalitarian ethos.

How does "Believing Women" in Islam by Asma Barlas respond to secular and feminist critiques of the Qur'an?

• Critique of patriarchal label: Barlas argues that secular/feminist scholars often uncritically accept patriarchal readings and dismiss egalitarian interpretations as manipulative.
• Misunderstanding theology and hermeneutics: Many critics conflate theological and hermeneutical issues, fail to contextualize, and reject the Qur'an’s sacredness.
• Doctrine of the created Qur'an: Some invoke this doctrine to question the Qur'an’s divinity, but Barlas clarifies it was meant to protect God’s unity, not deny sacredness.
• Double standards: Critics sometimes admit male privilege in the text but reject feminist readings, or question the Qur'an’s divinity based on exegeses they also reject.

What are the best quotes from "Believing Women" in Islam by Asma Barlas and what do they mean?

• “The Qur'an’s episteme is stubbornly egalitarian.” This highlights Barlas’s central claim that the Qur'an, at its core, affirms equality between men and women.
• “Patriarchal authority borders on shirk.” Barlas argues that male supremacy usurps God’s unique sovereignty, which is a grave theological error in Islam.
• “God is not male, nor like a male.” This quote underscores the Qur'an’s rejection of gendered representations of God, challenging the theological basis for patriarchy.
• “The Qur'an does not sacralize fathers or husbands as rulers.” Barlas points out that the Qur'an displaces, rather than replaces, patriarchal authority with divine rule.
• “Interpretation is a moral as well as intellectual endeavor.” This emphasizes the ethical responsibility of interpreters to seek just and egalitarian readings of the Qur'an.