Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith and Jurisprudence

246 Pages·2006·1.4 MB·English

by  Kecia Ali

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SEXUAL ETHICS AND ISLAM
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Sexual Ethics and Islam
Feminist Reflections on Qur’an,Hadith,
and Jurisprudence
K. Ali
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SEXUAL ETHICS AND ISLAM
Published by Oneworld Publications 2006
Copyright © K. Ali, 2006
All rights reserved.
Copyright under Berne Convention.
A CIP record for this title is available
from the British Library
ISBN-13: 978–1–85168–455–7 (Hbk), 978–1–85168–456–4 (Pbk)
ISBN-10: 1–85168–455–7 (Hbk), 1–85168–456–5 (Pbk)
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For my mother,my first instructor in ethics,
and for my children;may their instructor prove as capable.
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Study of the tradition demands an exercise of the historical
imagination that is sympathetic as well as critical; sometimes
what is branded as obscurantism or bigotry is simply a reflection
of a climate of ideas wholly alien from that of our own time.
Some of the sexual notions transmitted to us from the past are
unfounded, and their effect has proved to be damaging; but
while we may deplore this, we must also make the effort to
understand where they originated and why they were accepted –
and to realize that their advocates were rarely moved by
malevolence or stupidity.
Sherwin Bailey, Sexual Ethics: A Christian View
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Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Note on texts,translation,and transliteration xi
Introduction xii
1 Marriage,Money,and Sex 1
“And according to what they spend from
their wealth ... ” 3
Sex 6
Intermarriage 13
Conclusion 21
2 Lesser Evils:Divorce in Islamic Ethics 24
Untying the knot 25
Extreme circumstances 29
Prospects for reform 34
Conclusion 36
3 “What your right hands possess”:Slave
Concubinage in Muslim Texts and Discourses 39
Islam and slavery: overview of sources
and history 44
Women, war captives, and withdrawal 47
Conclusion 52
4 Prohibited Acts and Forbidden Partners:
Illicit Sex in Islamic Jurisprudence 56
Protecting chastity: the classical texts 60
Paternity, legal fictions, and non-marital
sex in contemporary Muslim thought 66
Conclusion 72
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viii contents
5 Don’t Ask,Don’t Tell:Same-Sex Intimacy in
Muslim Thought 75
History 79
Don’t ask, don’t tell 85
Same-sex marriage 91
Conclusion 95
6 “Reduce but do not destroy”:Female
“Circumcision”in Islamic Sources 97
Islamic or un-Islamic? 99
“Reduce but do not destroy” 105
Conclusion 109
7 “Ifyou have touched women”:Female Bodies
and Male Agency in the Qur’an 112
To whom am I speaking? 113
A difficult verse 117
Garments for one another 126
Conclusion 131
8 The Prophet Muhammad,his Beloved Aishah,
and Modern Muslim Sensibilities 135
Apologetics and polemics 138
Searching for solace 144
Conclusion 147
9 Toward an Islamic Ethics ofSex 151
Notes 158
Bibliography 193
Index 213
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Acknowledgements
This book advocates,among other things,assessing customary
practices and,rather than implementing them unquestioningly,
modifying them as necessary. It seems fitting, then, that as I
uphold the tradition of acknowledging the numerous debts
accrued in writing this volume, I alter it in one important
respect:I wish to thank my family first,rather than last.My hus-
band Mohamad Ali has been extraordinarily supportive over the
years I have worked on this project.Our children Shaira,Saadia,
and Tariq continue to inspire me with their insistence on asking
“why”when confronted with unfairness and injustice as well as
their unwillingness to accept unconvincing answers.The confi-
dence and encouragement from members of our extended
family have sustained me over the years.They all have my grati-
tude as well as my love.
This project has its roots in my work during 2001–2003
with the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project, funded by the Ford
Foundation and led by Bernadette Brooten.The first versions of
several ofthese essays,published on its website,took shape as I
worked alongside Gail Labovitz, Monique Moultrie, Raja El-
Habti, and Molly Lanzarotta. I collected additional material
during 2003–2004, while working on another project as a
research associate at Harvard’s Women’s Studies in Religion
Program. My colleagues at WSRP were enthusiastic; Sharon
Gillerman in particular helped by translating crucial portions of
an article for me on short notice.The bulk ofthis book was writ-
ten during my time as a Florence Levy Kay postdoctoral fellow at
Brandeis University.A number of its ideas were first presented
and discussed in public lectures and conferences at the Ameri-
can Academy ofReligion annual meetings,Brandeis University,