Women in Islam: reflections on historical and contemporary research

259 Pages·2012·4.444 MB·English

by  Lovat, Terry

Women in Islam

Terence Lovat
Editor
Women in Islam
Re fl ections on Historical
and Contemporary Research
Editor
Terence Lovat
Faculty of Education and Arts
The University of Newcastle
Callaghan, NSW, Australia
ISBN 978-94-007-4218-5 ISBN 978-94-007-4219-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-4219-2
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London
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Foreword
The issue of women in Islam today is one characterized by struggle among competing
voices. Broadly speaking, the competition is between, on the one hand, the claims
of those for whom Islam generally represents a movement of social and religious
reform, and that the role of women and gender equity was always central to the
reform. On the other hand are those for whom Islam is in fundamental opposition to
notions of reform that would entail a role for women marked by equal status and
opportunity. The former claims would seem to be more fi rmly based in the scholar-
ship of the ages, both Islamic and Western, and promise greater levels of social and
religious discourse between Islam and non-Islam, while the latter could be said to
be a reaction to cataclysmic historical events that have fractured Islam and spawned
an exclusivist perspective that idealizes its separation from all things non-Islamic,
an Islamic guise referred to variously as Islamism or radical Islam.
In the midst of this contemporary wider struggle between the forces claiming
Islam as their inspiration, the role and place of women is a de fi ning issue with views
that cover the spectrum from claims around equality through to those around relega-
tion and suppression. The book will gather together a collection of updated research
with a primary focus on the issue of Muslim women, either historically or contem-
poraneously. The impetus for the book came from an Australian Research Council
(ARC) funded research program involving Professors Terry Lovat and Hilary Carey
from the University of Newcastle, Australia, with collaboration from Professor
Geoffrey Samuel and Dr. Santi Rozario of Cardiff University, UK, and supported by
Dr. Belinda Green. The research in the book encompasses far more than was the
subject of the ARC project, research that comes from many parts of the world,
representing Muslim and non-Muslim researchers, with national identities and focus
issues related to Muslim intense countries including Bangladesh, India, Iran, Iraq,
Israel, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Tanzania, Tunisia and Turkey, as well
as France, the UK, Canada, South Africa and Australia. The research also covers an
array of Muslim views, both Sunni and Shi’a but also minority perspectives such as
Ismaili. In each case, the research is underpinned by the latest socio-theological
insights and/or empirical fi ndings, as appropriate, and the persistent method is one
of re fl ection into understanding and, where suitable, recommended action.
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Contents
1 The ‘Women’s Movement’ in Modern Islam:
Reflections on the Revival of Islam’s Oldest Issue ............................... 1
Terence Lovat
2 Reconciling Traditional Islamic Methods with Liberal
Feminism: Reflections from Tunisia by Mohamed Talbi ..................... 11
Kelly al-Dakkak
3 Young Muslim Women and the Islamic Family: Refl ections
on Confl icting Ideals in British Bangladeshi Life ................................ 25
Santi Rozario and Geoffrey Samuel
4 Women and Human Development in the Muslim
World: Reflections on Islamic and UNDP’s Approaches .................... 43
Muhammad Ahsan
5 Being Muslim in the Neoliberal West: Reflections
on an Ethnographic Study of Muslim Women in Australia ................ 61
Belinda Green
6 Youth Identity Formation in the Presence of the ‘Other’:
Reflections on Being Young and Muslim
in an Interfaith Setting ........................................................................... 75
Mehmet Ozalp and Kulsoom Siddiqui
7 Social Inclusion in the Context of Foreign-Policy Debates:
Reflections on Jihad, Human Rights and Gender
Equality in Islam ..................................................................................... 89
Halim Rane
8 The Contribution of Muslim Women in the Flourishing
of Modern Society: Reflections on Refugee Transition
from East to West .................................................................................... 107
Ibtihal Samarayi
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viii Contents
9 Islamic Legal Maxims for Attainment of Maqasid-al-Shari‘ah
in Criminal Law: Reflections on the Implications
for Muslim Women in the Tension Between Shari’ah
and Western Law .................................................................................... 117
Luqman Zakariyah
10 The Way Forward for Muslim Women: Reflections
on Australia’s Social Inclusion Agenda ................................................. 135
Mohamad Abdalla
11 Muslim Women in Higher Education: Reflections
on Literacy and Modernization in Israel .............................................. 149
Zehavit Gross
12 Hagar/Hajar, Muslim Women and Islam: Reflections
on the Historical and Theological Ramifications
of the Story of Ishmael’s Mother ........................................................... 165
Robert Crotty
13 Muslim Women Academics in Higher Education:
Reflections from South Africa ................................................................ 185
Doria Daniels and Nazreen Dasoo
14 Muslim Women, Peer Relationships and Educational
Trajectories: Reflections on Muslim Stereotypes
in a British Setting .................................................................................. 197
Jody Mellor
15 Voices from Shia Imami Ismaili Nizari Muslim Women:
Reflections from Canada on Past and Present
Gendered Roles in Islam......................................................................... 213
Adil Mamodaly and Alim Fakirani
Author Index.................................................................................................... 237
Subject Index....... ............................................................................................ 243
Author Biograph ies
Dr. Mohamad Abdalla is an Associate Professor at Grif fi th University, Australia,
and the Founding Director of the Grif fi th Islamic Research Unit (GIRU), and
Director of the Queensland node of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic
Studies Australia (NCEIS). He is a public intellectual and a respected leader in the
Australian Muslim community. Dr. Abdalla was the Chairperson of the Queensland
Muslim Community Reference Group (MCRG) and the Vice-president and spokes-
person for the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC). Dr. Abdalla has published
widely in the fi eld of Islamic studies.
Dr. Muhammad Ahsan is an independent academic research and training consul-
tant in UK. In the fi elds of Contemporary Muslim World, his research has gained
international recognition. In addition to authoring various books, Dr. Ahsan has
produced a large number of reports and research papers published in various refereed
international journals. His thoughts have signi fi cantly in fl uenced in fi xing priorities
and directions for the Muslim World and re-forming the Organisation of the Islamic
Conference.
Kelly al-Dakkak is a D.Phil. candidate in Oriental Studies at the University of
Oxford, UK. She is specialised in Islamic thought and movements in the Middle
East and North Africa and is currently completing a dissertation on Tunisian
intellectual Mohamed Talbi. She is a former Fulbright Fellow in the United Arab
Emirates, where she pursued research on Islamic identity for which she was awarded
a Fulbright Islamic Civilization Grant.
Dr. Robert Crotty is Emeritus Professor of Religion and Education at the University
of South Australia. He has written widely on Religion Studies and has had a long-
standing interest in Islam and its relationships with Judaism and Christianity. He is
presently involved in research on the possibility of restoring convivencia among the
Abrahamic religions.
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