ABSTRACT
Over the past few decades, Muslim women scholars in the United States have made significant contributions to approaches and interpretations of the Islamic tradition that seek to critique and overcome both internal and external forms of patriarchy and androcentrism, while also struggling for religious authority and the inclusion of their perspectives in the spectrum of authentic Muslim thought. This chapter offers a critical overview of the prominent strategies these women scholars have used to negotiate limits on and assert authority. Such strategies include a focus on the Qur’an, juxtaposition of the Qur’an and hadith, and attempts to relegate patriarchal and androcentric texts by attributing them to extra-Islamic sources and contexts. The author also reflects on critiques of these strategies by other Muslim women scholars and explores the approach of Muslima theology, which opens up novel trajectories in its unique combination of comparative, constructive, and theological lenses.
