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A review by jokos
Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence by Kecia Ali
3.0
Finished it almost a month ago, still don't know exactly how I feel about this.
I liked that it seemed to be written for Muslims familiar with Islam and discussions around certain topics, with less of an apologetic, more analytical view. All while recognising that it's hard to write objectively and critically about Islam without being defensive since Islamophobia and negative stereotypes are so widespread in our "Western society".
However, having read about the thousands of female scholars in Al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam, it was kind of tragic that she referenced mainly male scholarly opinions (even though it was usually to call them out) and even said something to the effect of sexual ethics should just be discussed by scholars because this inherently excludes women.
Also, felt a bit like she was analysing individual scholars, books and topics according to "modern values" without taking into account the general values and context of the faith, which is a bit unbalanced as none of this exists in a vacuum.
I liked that it seemed to be written for Muslims familiar with Islam and discussions around certain topics, with less of an apologetic, more analytical view. All while recognising that it's hard to write objectively and critically about Islam without being defensive since Islamophobia and negative stereotypes are so widespread in our "Western society".
However, having read about the thousands of female scholars in Al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam, it was kind of tragic that she referenced mainly male scholarly opinions (even though it was usually to call them out) and even said something to the effect of sexual ethics should just be discussed by scholars because this inherently excludes women.
Also, felt a bit like she was analysing individual scholars, books and topics according to "modern values" without taking into account the general values and context of the faith, which is a bit unbalanced as none of this exists in a vacuum.