Islamic Feminism - by Mulki Al-Sharmani (Paperback)

About the Book

"Mulki Al-Sharmani examines the goals, approaches and methodologies which key scholars have adopted in their efforts at crafting an Islamic feminist discourse. Al-Sharmani also shows that Islamic feminism is a phenomenon which extends far beyond academia. Drawing on the author's own extensive research and interviews with women in Egypt, the UK, Malaysia, Finland and elsewhere, the book explores how ordinary Muslim women in both the West and the Islamic world are increasingly asserting their autonomy and challenging patriarchal interpretations of their religion, as well as exploring the linkages between Islamic feminist scholarship and the realities of these women's lived experiences"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Shortlisted for the 2025 Muslim World Book Award.

Mulki Al-Sharmani undertakes a close textual analysis of the hermeneutics of selected Islamic feminism scholars as they engage with the Qur'an, Hadith, and different textual genres in Islamic interpretive tradition. She focuses on the relevant works of nine prominent scholars located in North America, Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa.

Bringing their works into conversation with one another, Islamic Feminism critically examines the epistemological and methodological contributions and challenges of these scholars. Al-Sharmani shows how these scholars' engagements with the question of gender also yields new insights into the interplay between Islamic theology, ethics, and law. Drawing on extensive multi-sited ethnographic research, Al-Sharmani examines the societal significance and limits of the studied scholarship and how it informs and is informed by multidimensional Muslim gender activism in both global and local contexts. Towards the latter aim, Al-Sharmani focuses on two case studies: the global movement Musawah, and Egyptian Islamic feminism in the aftermath of the 2011 Revolution.

Review Quotes

"The book is a brilliant introduction and conceptualization of the interdisciplinary field of Islamic feminism. Sharmani spotlights the scholarship and trajectories of nine women scholars from the global south and north, whose hermeneutical engagements with the Islamic interpretive tradition constitute important contributions to reformist knowledge building projects and gender activism." --Hoda Elsadda, Cairo University, Egypt

"We've been waiting for this! Developing consistently through the past 40 years, Muslim feminist thought is well deserving of an analytic synthesis that discerns its historical and more recent threads, demonstrates its social and real-life impacts in shaping present realities and forecasting the needs for feminist Muslim future. Mulki Al-Sharmani has done just this; with deep insight, keen analysis and wisdom drawn from her own engagement in Muslim feminist scholarship and activism, she offers a much-needed presentation of key moments, ideas and actions that are shaping the landscape of Muslim feminist thought. The backstory of the book, which is the necessary connections of scholarship with social action, epistemology and methodology, hermeneutics and activism, confirms the feminist politics that cradle Al-Sharmani's rich and much needed work. This book will provide young scholars with a clear trajectory of what has been and a promising forecast for what can still come." --Fatima Seedat, University of Cape Town, South Africa

"Written by an eminent scholar-activist and Islamic feminist herself, this book beautifully and confidently navigates the artificial boundary between normative and analytical approaches to Muslim women's studies and offers a guiding map to understanding Islamic feminism as a movement that simultaneously produces knowledge and engages in activist change of Muslim societies and communities. An extremely valuable resource." --Juliane Hammer, UNC Chapel Hill. USA

About the Author

Mulki Al-Sharmani is Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland.