Modern Rereadings of the Ḥadīth through a Gendered Lens

Abstract

Abstract This article focuses on modern rereadings of the ḥadīth literature and the sunna of the Prophet, which have played an inestimable role in shaping the theology and law of Islam. While the ḥadīth and sunna preserve the collective memory of liberating moments for Muslim women, much of this tradition also upholds and perpetuates the institutions of patriarchy and male dominance. This chapter starts out by exploring “tension reports” in the Islamic narrative tradition that are alleged historical memories of the exercise of women’s agency in a fashion that challenged or defied the institutions of patriarchy at the time of the Prophet or his Companions. This is followed by a discussion of what I describe as the misogynistic reports in the ḥadīth literature and the three main interpretive or thematic stratagems employed by Muslim women scholars in wrestling with the Prophetic tradition and its meaning in the modern world. The focus is mostly on the scholarship of Muslim women writing in the English language. The chapter concludes by arguing that the ḥadīth and sunna are critical components of the Islamic tradition, and this tradition must continue to serve as the source for dynamic and inventive solutions, even to deeply entrenched challenges such as patriarchy.