Aisha ‘Abd al-Rahman (Bint al-Shati’) (d.1998) and her approach to tafsir:the journey of an Egyptian exegete from hermeneutics to humanity

In the last few decades, Bint al-Shati’s literary approach to the exegesis of the Qur’an has received some scholarly attention particularly directed at the exegetical procedures she developed under the tutelage of Amin al-Khuli for reading the Qur’an as a literary text. This paper aims to re-examine Bint al-Shati’s exegetical oeuvre with an interest in the hermeneutic vision that informed and shaped her method. A close reading of her main exegetical work Al-Tafsir al-Bayani li’l-Qur’an reveals that three hermeneutic questions are of primary significance to her tafsir: i) Authority to interpret the text, ii) the linguisticality of understanding, and iii) the applicability of the interpretation. This paper mainly focuses on the first question in light of her approach to traditional tafsir. It becomes evident that while Bint al-Shati’ relies on modern methods of thematic and philological analysis of Qur’anic meaning, traditional tafsir is never absent from her exegetical texts as it is in other modern interpretations of the Qur’an. The paper goes on to show that the textual presence of traditional tafsir serves textual as well as transtextual functions beyond refuting the validity of past constructions of Qur’anic meaning. Bint al-Shati’ is, in fact, deliberately placing herself ‘within’ in order to construct her exegetical authority as extending from a long and well-established tradition, to legitimate her modern reading as premised on knowledge of past readings, and to ultimately transcend them to allow a new reading to emerge. Bint al-Shati’s approach to traditional tafsir is further explored in the light of the tension between modernity and tradition which characterises her intellectualism, as well as in the context of her personal journey as a woman attempting to establish an authoritative exegetical voice in a male-dominated tradition. In the final section, the paper makes some observations on Bint al-Shati’s stance on the primacy of a linguistic approach for understanding the Qur’an, a stance which diverges from that of her teacher Amin al-Khuli who emphasized history above language in his Manahij al-Tajdid. The emphasis on linguisticality develops in Bint al-Shati’ into a theology of humanity in which women are equally entrusted with understanding the Qur’an. This contribution of her work reveals that her reading of the Qur’an has been motivated not only by an interest in its literary inimitability but also by a concern for social application

Horizons and limitations of feminist muslim hermeneutics : reflections on the menstruation verse.

The aim of this paper is to ‘converse’ with recent feminist readings of the Qur’an in the light of traditional Qur’an exegesis. In the course of the paper, I will first reflect on the horizons opened up by these new readings of the Qur’an. Then, against the backcloth of an aspect of the law of purity concerning menstruation as outlined in traditional exegesis, I will go on to examine the limitations which arise from constructing Qur’anic hermeneutics on the basis of binary oppositions in which interpretations of gender in the Qur’an are either modern feminist and egalitarian, on the one hand, or traditional, male and misogynistic on the other hand. In the end, a third possibility is advocated for a Muslim feminist hermeneutics which affirms the original purity of humanity as a horizon for the divine

The meaning of purity in classical exegesis of the Qur'an

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Understanding Q. 4:34 in relation to wife-abuse : tradition, feminists and faith leaders

Qur'ān 4:34 is the verse taken literally to authorize the husband to physically discipline his (nāshiz recalcitrant) wife. A substantial body of scholarship, mainly within Islamic feminist literature, has emerged to resolve the ethical and hermeneutic problematic this verse poses. Much of this literature has been yoked on the theoretical interpretation of Q. 4:34 to mitigate the theological concerns arising from the letter of the verse and its historical interpretations. Theological positions in the classical tradition, perceived to be sustained by traditionally trained scholars today, are often dismissed by feminist interpreters as unhelpful. However, as the findings of this thesis show, in their attempt to eschew stereotypical images of that tradition as patriarchal, traditionally trained scholars do not subscribe to classical readings of the verse. Nevertheless, they dismiss the feminist hermeneutics of Q. 4:34 as secular/western. Building on contemporary scholarship on Q. 4:34 but diverging in aims and approach, this thesis combines i) an exploration of the hermeneutic history of Q. 4:34, from classical to feminist readings; with ii) an investigation of the extent to which these interpretations are/are not deployed in practice, and where polarization and/or tensions in relation to the verse are mitigated. To ground the discussion in a case study, the thesis will focus on Britain, examining the interpretations and practices of UK imams and traditionally trained Muslim faith leaders. The focus of the thesis is, therefore, on how UK imams and Muslim faith leaders read and deploy Q. 4:34 (if at all) in their approach to wife abuse in contemporary Britain. Further, what impact does their context have on their reception of the hermeneutic/exegetical tradition of Q. 4:34? As the research draws attention to the crucial role 'context' plays in mitigating the text and its sanctioned interpretations in the classical tradition, the first part of the thesis is a textual examination of Q. 4:34 as read within works of tafsīr, fiqh, and feminist hermeneutics. This textual part of the thesis redressed the dismissal and lack of in-depth engagement with the exegetical tradition of Q. 4:34, as key to a contemporary hermeneutic of application that combats wife abuse in contemporary context. The second part of the thesis investigates through semi-structured interviews and an ethnography of a two-day meeting of 70 British-based imams and scholars how they read and apply Q. 4:34 in their practical treatment of wife abuse in their communities. The analysis situates their readings and practices in the wider textual tradition explored in the first part. The research illustrates how, in aspiring for a reinterpretation of Q. 4:34 which mitigates its effect on their communities within the context of Britain, imams and scholars often produced hybrid yet novel tradition-based strategies which also bespeak modernist/feminist hermeneutics despite prevalent ambivalence against feminism amongst many of them. The thesis argues that these strategies and interpretations primarily exemplify the dialectic between text and context, and secondarily problematizing the emphasis in current scholarship on a textual solution for wife hitting. In conclusion, the thesis argues that the perceived polarization between feminists and traditionally trained scholars is a sham as they share, in practice, similar views when approaching Q. 4:34. Further, it proposes as a productive way forward that, at the practical level redressing wife abuse, requires a more in-depth, contextual approach in which praxis guides and predicates interpretation within Muslim communities

Islam on Campus: Contested Identities and the Cultures of Higher Education in Britain

Islam on Campus explores how Islam is represented, perceived, and lived within higher education in Britain. It considers the changing nature of university life, and the place of religion within it. Even while many universities maintain ambiguous or affirming orientations to religious institutions for reasons to do with history and ethos, much western scholarship has presumed higher education to be a strongly secularising force. This framing has resulted in religion often being marginalised or ignored as a cultural irrelevance by the university sector. However, recent times have seen higher education increasingly drawn into political discourses that problematize religion in general, and Islam in particular, as an object of risk. Using the largest data set yet collected in the UK, Islam on Campus explores university life and the ways in which ideas about Islam and Muslim identities are produced, experienced, perceived, appropriated, and objectified. The volume considers the role universities and Muslim higher education institutions play in the production, reinforcement, and contestation of emerging narratives about religious difference. This is a culturally nuanced treatment of universities as sites of knowledge production, and contexts for the negotiation of perspectives on culture and religion among an emerging generation. This collaborative study demonstrates the urgent need to release Islam from its official role as the othered, or the feared. When universities achieve this we will be able to help students of all affiliations and of none to be citizens of the campus in preparation for being citizens of the world