ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 provides an overview of Islamic feminism as a body of knowledge, its hermeneutical methodologies, and its inner diversity. It maps the various approaches and methods that Islamic feminists use to offer alternative interpretations of sacred texts and examines how religion and feminism are conceptualised in the field that is generally called Islamic feminism. By emphasising their individual agency and direct relationship with God, Islamic feminists de-essentialise and deconstruct religion. They do so through four main approaches to Islamic texts: 1) historical contextualisation, 2) intra-textual methods, 3) the tawhidic paradigm, and 4) linguistic analysis, allowing them to promote gender equality as enshrined in Islam. Nevertheless, Islamic feminists make sure to emphasise that their readings should not be regarded as the “true” reading of Islam, and since only God has the ultimate truth, any (human) reading is and should be relative to the reader’s historicity, i.e., his or her cultural, social, and political historical context.
By using tools and methodologies similar to those established by pre-modern and contemporary Islamic scholars, Islamic feminists gain legitimacy for their interpretations of the Qur’an and Sunna. Feminist ijtihad is employed to decentralise both religion, Islam in particular, and feminism. Islamic feminists use the tools of Islamic modernists by arguing that they, too, have the right to read and interpret Islamic texts. Feminist tafsir allows them to pose questions that refute traditional patriarchal interpretations of Islam and find gender equality and diversity to be embedded in the Qur’an.
Whereas Chapter 1 discussed Islamic feminists’ criticisms of western feminists, this chapter engages with the internal critique of Islamic feminism. Here, voices from within this movement are presented to emphasise its current diversity.
