WINDOWS of FAITH PUTO EN Zen BROI Ceres Conta IN NORTH AMERICA Re ey Peeeotas od eaten reo fee en rer Asif Quraishi Cee ee cee eee eprre ay Gisela Webb Windows of Faith Women and Gender in North American Religions Amanda Porterfield and Mary Farrell Bednarowski, Series Editors Windows of Faith Muslim Women Scholar-Activists in North America of yy Edited by Gisela Webb Copyright © 2000 by Syracuse University Press Syracuse, New York 13244-5160 Alll Rights Reserved First Edition 2000 00 Of 02 03 04 05 654321 Epigraph calligraphy by Elinor ‘A’ishah Holland The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. © Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Windows of faith : Muslim women scholar-activists in North America / edited by Gisela Webb. p. cm. — (Women and gender in North American religions) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8156-2851-X (cloth : alk. paper). — ISBN 0-8156-2852-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1, Muslim women. 2. Women in Islam. 1. Webb, Gisela. Il. Series. HQu70.W52 1999 305.48'6971—dc2 —-99-40405 Manufactured in the United States of America In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate Contents Introduction “May Muslim Women Speak for Themselves, Please?" GISELA WEBB xi Contributors = xxi PART ONE Quranic/Theological Foundations Alternative Qur’anic Interpretation and the Status of Muslim Women AMINA WADUD 3 Muslim Women’s Islamic Higher Learning as a Human Right Theory and Practice NIMAT HAFEZ BARAZANGI —.22 PART TWO Law An Introduction to Muslim Women’s Rights AZIZAH Y. AL-HIBRI St Women’s Self-Identity in the Qur'an and Islamic Law MAYSAM J. AL-FARUQI 72 viii | Contents 5. Her Honor An Islamic Critique of the Rape Laws of Pakistan from a Woman-Sensitive Perspective ASIFA QURAISHI 102 6. The Scholar and the Fatwa Legal Issues Facing African American and Immigrant Muslim Communities in the United States AMINAH BEVERLY MCCLOUD 136 PART THREE Literature, Spirituality 7. Braiding the Stories Women's Eloquence in the Early Islamic Era MOHJA KAHF 147 8. Reading the Signs Unfolding Truth and the Transformation of Authority RABIA TERRI HARRIS 172 PART FOUR Activism 9. Striving for Muslim Women’s Human Rights— Before and Beyond Beijing An African American Perspective GWENDOLYN ZOHARAH SIMMONS — 197 10. Is Family Planning Permitted by Islam? The Issue of a Woman's Right to Contraception RIFFAT HASSAN 226 Appendixes: A. Human Rights in the Qur’anic Perspective RIFFAT HASSAN 244 Contents | ix A Partial List of Organizations for Muslim Women’s Rights, Advocacy, and Higher Islamic Education in the United States KAREEMA ALTOMARE 249 Glossary 259 Works Cited 267 Index 281