Meet the Scholar: Marion Katz and Walid Saleh

Many scholars of Islam consider feminist Qur'anic studies-the subject of women in the Qur'an-as a tangential subfield motivated by political interests as opposed to genuine "scientific" inquiry. Celene Ibrahim's book, Women and Gender in the Qur'an, challenges these assumptions. 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. Ibrahim investigates Qur'anic stories and themes using a kaleidoscope of methods from both the traditional Qur'anic sciences and contemporary western scholarship. She accomplishes this task skillfully while attending to central questions about female embodiment, agency, sexuality, and roles within religious and familiar structures. Women and Gender in the Qur'an is divided into four chapters, with each exploring a different Qur'anic theme and textual dimension. Ibrahim's analysis is divided into two main components: an in-depth textual investigation and what she refers to as a "femalecentric" reading of this data (10). Descriptively, the book offers a comprehensive introduction to women in Qur'anic narratives-the stories of the prophets and their families-and to the Qur'an's language. It introduces readers to both prominent female figures, such as Mary, and more obscure representations embedded within Qur'anic parables. These include the "one woman who unravels the yarn" (Q 16:92). Ibrahim also offers an in-depth semantic analysis of key theopolitical terms, such as "family (ahl)" and "house (ā l)," highlighting the female presence in each (28). Cognizant of the issues related to scholarly positionality and authority, Ibrahim defines her interpretive lens carefully. She refers to herself as a "tentative" female Muslim exegete or "mufassira" (8), thereby situating her brand of analysis at the intersection of Muslim exegesis (tafsīr) and feminist studies without oversimplifying the complexities of each intellectual tradition or their implications within the Muslim/secular academic context-particularly those presented by the term "feminism." Hers is a pious reading that is concerned with female bodies. The first two chapters, "Female sex and sexuality" and "Female kin, procreation and parenting," examine representations of sexed bodies, reproduction, and kinship. She Studies in Religion / Sciences Religieuses 1-3 ª The Author(s) / Le(s) auteur(s), 2021 Article reuse guidelines/ Directives de réutilisation des articles: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 2008

Cebrail aracılığı ile Hz. Muhammed'e gönderilmiş, hiçbir değişikliğe uğramadan bizlere kadar intikal ettirilmiştir. Vahiylerin amacı, yeryüzünde yaşamakta olan insanlara Allah'ın varlık ve birliğini, hayatın anlam ve gayesini kavrama noktasında yardımcı olmak, onları doğru yola ve dine• .irşad etmektir. Kur'an'a göre Kur'an'ın ayetleri ile bilimsel-gerçekler arasında yakın bir ilişki vardır. Kur'an'da hem Kur'an'ın cümlelerine hem de olgulara/gerçeklere ayet ismi verilmektedir. Allah, kendi ayetlerine insanların dikkatini çekmekte ve onları gerçek hidayete ulaşmaları, Kur'an ayetlerinin, yaratıl ışın, bilimsel gerçeklerin ve peygamberlerin mucizelerinin arkasındaki sınırsız gücü idrak etmeleri için derin bir şekilde düşünmeye davet etmektedir. Kur'an, Hz. Peygamber'e gönderilen Allah kelami olmasına rağmen, onun yorumu ve tefsiri insanlara aittir. Bundan dolayı, Kur'an metninin aniaşılıp yorumlanmasını subjektif kılan bazı faktörler vardır; yani Kur'an ve Kur'an'ın yorumu aynı şeyler değildir ve seviyeleri farklıdır. Örneğin, aynı ayet veya ayetler üzerinde yapılmış farklı yorumları bulabilir ve onlardan• birini doğru/sahih yorum olarak seçebiliriz. Dolayısı ile yorumu yanlış anlamalardan, spekülatif görüş ve d~ğerlendirmeler den kurtarmak için Kur'an'a yaklaşımda tutarlı ve doğru bir metodumuzun olması gerekir. Cinsiyet konusunda da Kur'an'ın kendisi ile geleneklerin, adetlerin ve ataerkil zihniyetierin etkisi altında şekillenen birtakım yorumlar ve dini anlayışlar arasında farklılıklar söz konusudur. Çoğu defa cinsiyet ayrımı ile cinsiyet ayrımcılığı birbirine karıştırılmıştır. Halbuki onlar aynı şeyler değildir. İslam, erkekle kadın arasında aile ve toplumda gerçek olarak kendisini hissettiren doğal farklılıkları görmekte ve hayatın organizasyonu noktasında onları dikkate almaktadır. Ancak İslam, erkek ve kadın arasında bir cinsiyet ayrımcılığı yapmamaktadır. Kur'an ve Sünnet'e göre erkek ve kadın aynı özden/ruhtan yaratılmış olup her ikisi de Allah'ın ve hukukun önünde eşit bir konumdadırlar. Her ikisi de birbirlerinin üzerinde karşılıklı ve dengeli haklara sahip olup birbirlerine 19-23 Kasım 2007 tarihleri arasında Almanya'nın Bielefeld Üniversitesi'nde "Kur'an, Yorum ve Cinsiyet Konusu" adıyla verdiğim serninerin gözden geçirilip makale olarak düzenlenmiş şeklidir. (This is my lecture reviewed and prepared in the-form of article, which •is-given on the subject of "The Qur'an; Interpretation and the Matter of Gender" inJBielefeld/~ermany between the dates 19-23 Nov., 2007). ••Cumhuriyet University Theology Faculty. ~ 1 ~ 408 * Talip ÖZDEŞ karşı sorumludurlar. üstünlük erkek veya kadın olmakla, belirli bir kabileye, millete veya ırka mensup olmakla değil, ancak takva ile roümkündür. islam hiçbir şekilde zulmü, adaletsizliği, ahlaksızlığı ve insan hakları ihlallerini kabul etmez. .

Welt Des Islams, 2023

AAR Reading Religion, 2021

Celene Ibrahimʼs Women and Gender in the Qurʾan is a welcome and significant contribution to the growing scholarship on women and gender in Qurʾanic studies. Ibrahimʼs work recovers the feminine perspective from the margins of extant exegetical discourses and centers the feminine subject in her analysis of the Qurʾanʼs narratives, thereby offering a corrective to the general dearth of female voices and perspectives in the genre of exegetical literature.

American journal of Islam and society, 1993

American Journal of Islam and Society, 2024

As an academic exercise, Women and Gender in the Qur’an offers a reading of the scripture that investigates intra-textual coherence through philological and structural methods. To miss this point is to miss the theoretical foundation of the project...

Islam and Gender: Major Issues and Debates draws attention to the debates on gender in Islam, emphasizing on lived experiences of Muslim women and men. It focuses on the evolving cultural interplay between women studies, critical feminist theories, and normative religious study (p. 2) and discusses the epistemological advancement of the first three waves of feminism and evolving applications of the woman and gender problems in the disciplinary study of religion and theology. Adis Duderija, Alina Alak, and Kristin Hissong explain various theories behind the traditional construction of masculine and feminine dichotomy and trace Muslim women's ontological and epistemological advancement from diverse nationalities. Finally, they contextualize the debates and discourses initiated by Islamic feminists Fatima Mernissi, Rifat Hassan, Amina Wadud, Asma Barlas, and others. The book traces the evolution of gender in Islam and examines the tensions between the modern and Islamic understanding of gender. The book traverses two major themes. First, it examines a traditional gender discourse in the Islamic jurisprudence, and how they have been interpreted through the Quran and Hadith. It scrutinizes the concept of "topos," known as assumption theory, as the basis of the gender hierarchical and patriarchal nature of the religion. The book has a broad discussion on the nature of the premodern Islamic tradition on gender issues, noting its subscription to the "gender oppositionality" theory that operates behind the tradition of patriarchal construction (p. 25). It explores the logic and the dynamics behind the conceptual patriarchal honor and female modesty law concerning the practice of veiling, seclusion, gender segregation, honor-based violence, and female genital mutation. The main argument provided in the book is whether or not these practices are "Islamic"; all these practices are rooted in the same operative logic, termed as "the logic of patriarchal honor," to control and regulate the female sexuality to uphold patriarchal honor (p. 44). The book argues the importance of the interpretative and hermeneutical approach to the Quran and Sunna in forming gender norms and rules in Islam. It includes a short history of the evolution of Quranic exegesis in Islamic thought and also presents the interpretative methods applied to the Quran in classical Islam that facilitated the construction of a hierarchical gender relation (p. 59).

All praises be to AllÁh for His blessing and granting me the health, strength, ability and time to finish the Doctoral Program leading to this book on the right time. I am indebted to several persons and institutions that made it possible for this study to be undertaken. My greatest intellectual debt goes to my academic supervisor, Doktorvater, Prof. Tilman Nagel for his invaluable advice, guidance, patience and constructive criticism throughout the various stages in the preparation of this dissertation. My special thanks go to Prof. Brigitta Benzing and Prof. Heide Inhetveen whose interests, comments and guidance were of invaluable assistance. The Seminar for Arabic of Georg-August University of Göttingen with its international reputation has enabled me to enjoy a very favorable environment to expand my insights and experiences especially in the themes of Islamic studies, literature, phylosophy, philology and other oriental studies. My thanks are due to Dr. Abdul RazzÁq Weiss who provided substantial advice and constructive criticism for the perfection of this dissertation. My special thanks go also to Prof. Thomas Crozier and Mrs. Christine Crozier Mrs. Linda North who corrected the English. The same applies to colleagues and society members of Seminar for Arabic who had been very pleasant partners in everyday discussions. Without the technical support of the Library and its Librarian of the Seminar for Arabic, Central University Library (SUB) and Göttingen University Computer Centre (GWDG), this dissertation would not have been technically feasible. To these institutions I express my deep gratitude and special appreciation. I owe my deepest thanks and appreciation to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) that has provided me with stipend and my financial supports.