Asma Barlas's "Believing Women in Islam"

Continuing the series.

Barlas, Asma. "Believing women" in Islam:Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002. 

Asma Barlas holds a PhD in International Studies from the University of Denver and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Punjab in Pakistan. She is currently a professor of Politics and the director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity at Ithaca College, New York. Barlas was granted the position of Spinoza Chair in Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands in Spring 2008. 

In Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Quran, Barlas argues that the Quran does not have to be read through a patriarchal lens and that, in fact, it is inherently an anti-patriarchal text. Although she does not deny that the Quran can be read in patriarchal modes, she convincingly explains that it can be read through other modes as well, keeping in mind the fact that all texts are polysemic and are therefore open to multiple interpretations. In fact, she admits that it is difficult making the kind of claim that she does because there are Quranic verses that support notions of gender inequality and male dominance. Through this idea, she challenges those readings of the Quran that not only support but also encourage the oppression of women. She asserts that, with such unjust readings, Muslims are ignoring the fact that the Text has actually been misread. Her intention, she states, is to demonstrate that Muslim women can fight for equality using the teachings of the Quran itself. Expounding upon the notion of authority in early Islamic thought, Barlas concludes that classical scholars and interpreters of Islam incorporated the concepts of inequality and patriarchy into Islam to justify existing thoughts about women in that era, hence suggesting that what the Quran comes to teach is contingent upon who is reading it and in which contexts. She proves her claims by emphatically discussing those verses of the Quran that have been read in a manner that supports misogyny – verses that are often read out of social and historical contexts. Since misogynistic interpretations are usually supported by hadiths, narrations of Prophet Muhammad’s practices, Barlas also discusses the notion of authority and the development of the Sunnah/sunnah (typically equated with Prophet Muhammad’s—and hence the best— interpretation of the Quran) and thereby reminds Muslims of the negative impact of elevating the status of hadiths over the Quran.