Feminist Edges of the Qur′an. By Aysha A. Hidayatullah

Abstract

In raising difficult questions about the divine nature of the Qur'an, in drawing attention to many of the fundamental assumptions and prescriptions that have guided (and perhaps bound) feminist Qur'anic commentary (tafsir) throughout its evolution, and in sparking dialog about future possibilities of Qur'anic scholarship, Aysha Hidayatullah's Feminist Edges of the Qur'an is an important resource. In her attempt to build a case for the fallacy of the Qur'an as a priori promoter of gender equality, the author situates herself as an interrogator of three decades of feminist tafsir formulated by Amina Wadud, Asma Barlas, Azizah al-Hibri, Riffat Hasan, and other first-generation Muslim feminists. In doing so, Hidayatullah draws upon a legacy from which I glean (perhaps as she does) the questioning spirit that she asserts is necessary for gender justice. The author, herself a Muslim feminist, divides her text into three parts. Part one, “Historical Emergence of Feminist Qur'anic Interpretation,” examines historical developments in interpretative approaches to the Qur'an. I especially appreciate her decision to situate feminist tafsir within the wider canons of pre-modernity and the modernist movement. As a former Christian minister, I also found Hidayatullah's consideration of the scholarship of Christian and Jewish theologians and its import for Muslim feminists illuminating, particularly in regard to the necessary departures the faith claims of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam require.