I was wondering if you could forward this to your fellow authors and readers. We are looking for researchers to compile a manual on gender-neutral interpretations of the Quran and Sunnah to increase the availabitlity of these interpretations in Afghanistan.

http://www.feminijtihad.webs.com

Thanks,
Natasha

I think you answered your own question when you acknowledge that “and words like Patriarchal are open to debate.”

There can be various interpretations/views of these terms and I think that within Islamic feminist discourse as long as you clarify what you mean, acknowledge that it is your version of it and present justifications for it (as you would for any arguement) then it is easier to engage in a dialogue about it. You know where everyone stands.

Most of these words have their basic meanings, then we build upon them.

As far as “aggressive forms of Islamic observance” – it can mean what one wants it to mean within the Islamic feminist discourse. For example, to me it refers to those violent (phsyically, mentally, emotionally, verbally etc.) practices toward women which use Islam as justification.

for example “aggressive forms of Islamic observance”, maybe i am not working on the same wavelength as you guys but i can’t for the life of me figure out what that refers to.

and words like Patriarchal are open to debate since for example there are people who argue that the hijab is a sign of “Patriarchal version of Islam”, while other people see it as the opposite.

Actually the phrase that causes me concern is “Koran*-centred”. Don’t be scared of the sunnah sisters! We must take the hadith back from those who misquote and misuse it in their ignorance. It is our heritage as this brilliant article explains:
http://www.newislamicdirections.com/nid/notes/a_glimpse_at_early_women_islamic_scholars/

Women used to be at the heart of the legislative and scholarly process in “mainstream/orthodox/term of your choice” Islam and we need to be there again if things are going to change.

All Muslims make wudu before they pray, but how many know that the hadith narration we learned this process from, was narrated by a woman, Rubiyya bint Muawidh b. Afrah. Her word was considered trustworthy enough to describe one of the most important acts in Islam.

If people knew things like this then they wouldn’t be so quick to believe false hadith like “Consult a woman and do the opposite”, which leads a lot of women to feel alienated by the sunnah, seeing it as something put together by men, when actual history shows, that women played a massive part in hadith compilation.

*Pet peeve, I don’t like the transliteration of Qur’an as Koran. It’s incorrect and it really chafes me, but that’s just me.

To me you cannot simply take out the “orthodox” part and focus on that. The rest of the sentence provides context for that term and I think explains things pretty clearly.

There is an effort to minimize the orthodox interpretations of Islam which have been patriarchal and aggressive. “Patriarchal” and “aggressive” explain the criticism of “orthodox.”

could someone expand on the part i quoted?