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Gender Hierarchy in the Qur'an: Medieval Interpretations, Modern Responses
Contributor(s): Bauer, Karen (Author)
ISBN: 110704152X     ISBN-13: 9781107041523
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
OUR PRICE:   $114.00  
Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats
Published: June 2015
Qty:
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Islam - History
- Religion | Islam - Koran & Sacred Writings
- Religion | Sexuality & Gender Studies
Dewey: 297.122
LCCN: 2015010542
Series: Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization
Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6" W x 9" (1.25 lbs) 324 pages
Themes:
- Cultural Region - Middle East
- Religious Orientation - Islamic
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
This book explores how medieval and modern Muslim religious scholars ('ulamā') interpret gender roles in Qur'ānic verses on legal testimony, marriage, and human creation. Citing these verses, medieval scholars developed increasingly complex laws and interpretations upholding a male-dominated gender hierarchy; aspects of their interpretations influence religious norms and state laws in Muslim-majority countries today, yet other aspects have been discarded entirely. Karen Bauer traces the evolution of their interpretations, showing how they have been adopted, adapted, rejected, or replaced over time, by comparing the Qur'ān with a wide range of Qur'ānic commentaries and interviews with prominent religious scholars from Iran and Syria. At times, tradition is modified in unexpected ways: learned women argue against gender equality, or Grand Ayatollahs reject sayings of the Prophet, citing science instead. This innovative and engaging study highlights the effects of social and intellectual contexts on the formation of tradition, and on modern responses to it.

Contributor Bio(s): Bauer, Karen: - Karen Bauer is a Research Associate in Qur'ānic Studies at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. Her publications include articles on the Qur'ān, the genre of tafsīr and gender, as well as an edited volume entitled Aims, Methods and Contexts of Qur'anic Exegesis (2nd/8th-9th/15th Centuries) (2014).