GENDER AND SEXUAL RIGHTS IN EARLY ISLAM

When early Islamic jurists outlined the marriage law, they codified a gendered model of conjugal rights and duties that privileged men over women. A similar development also took place regarding sexual rights as women’s pleasure and sexual gratification became secondary to those of men. Specialists in this period of Islamic history have argued that the gender ideologies prevalent in the early Abbasid society, which enabled an androcentric definition of Islam, should be seen as the primary cause for the inequality within the Islamic marriage system. This paper aims to show that Abbasid gender ideologies, contrary to popular descriptions, were not homogenous. Two major trends in understanding female sexuality during the early Abbasid period will be discussed. The first, androcentric trend that focused primarily on male sexual gratification was in conflict with a more women-friendly attitude; the latter was advocated in a number of literary genres, including medical handbooks, popular stories, educational and ethics literature. These works accentuated the importance of female sexual health and favoured female pleasure as a necessary element for mutual sexual satisfaction and marital happiness. The paper illustrates that some aspects from this more women-friendly approach to sexuality were adopted in later legal opinions that sought to correct the most visible cases of inequality in the social institution of marriage.

«ТУРКЕСТАНСКИЕ МУСУЛЬМАНСКИЕ ОБЩИНЫ... БЫЛИ ЛИШЕНЫ ЭТОГО СЧАСТЬЯ». ИСТОРИЯ БЫТОВАНИЯ ПЕРЕВОДА И ТОЛКОВАНИЯ КОРАНА ТАРАЗИ В СОВЕТСКОМ УЗБЕКИСТАНЕ

Among the theologians who influenced the processes of re-Islamisation in late Soviet and early post-Soviet Central Asia, the name of Sayyid Mahmud Tarazi (ca. 1895– 1991) deserves special attention. Better known by his honorary nickname Altin-khan-tura, he was an authoritative Turkestani emigrant and prominent scholar. The present article offers preliminary research on the dissemination in Soviet Uzbekistan of his most famous work: the first complete interlinear translation of the Qur’an with commentary in Central Asian Turki. In less than half a century, this work has undergone more than ten publications in various regions of the Muslim world. As archaeographic and field research indicates, Tarazi’s translation has been featuring in personal library collections of some local religious figures, including prominent “official” and “unofficial” theologians from the region, and could have impacted their own work. Since the personality of Tarazi has not yet wholly entered the academic discourse on “Soviet Islam”, the article also provides a brief biography of the scholar in the context of his direct and “secret” links to local 'ulamā. The focus of this article on the history of the dissemination of Tarazi’s Qur’an translation allows illuminating some of the re-Islamisation processes that took place in Central Asia during the period under review.

ГЕНДЕРНОЕ ИЗМЕРЕНИЕ ХАЛЯЛЯ: ЖЕНСКОЕ ТЕЛО И РОДОВСПОМОЖЕНИЕ В ПЛАТНЫХ МЕДИЦИНСКИХ УСЛУГАХ ДЛЯ МУСУЛЬМАН В РЕСПУБЛИКЕ ТАТАРСТАН

Using the example of the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia), this article discusses the emergence of the field of medical services for Muslims. It argues that genderisation of social interactions, in particular, of those between physicians and patients, has been one of the main principles of Muslim bioethics in the Republic. Among other measures, halal certification procedures are currently being developed by numerous religious experts in order to standardise and legitimise such genderisation. The analysis draws on data collected during multiple interviews with experts, medical professionals, Muslim patients, as well as on the qualitative study of regulatory documents. The article shows that the main feature of rules that govern certification procedures in Tatarstan today is the ongoing convergence between religious norms and biomedicine. As a particular example of medical services designed explicitly for Muslims in the Republic, the paper presents and analyses the service of “halal birth-giving”. This service combines commodification of religiosity and paid care for Muslim women, thereby heavily relying on their gender and religious identities, as well as their class status.

‘IN ANY CASE WE ARE SUFIS’: THE CREATION OF HIJRA SPIRITUAL IDENTITY IN SOUTH ASIA

Providing spiritual ‘safe spaces’, the Sufi shrine-world throughout the Indian Subcontinent is generally open to those who do not identify with conventional gender categories. Ajmer Sharif Shrine (dargāh) in the northern Indian town of Ajmer in Rajasthan is renowned for being particularly ‘inclusive’. It accepts all pilgrims without discrimination, including the so-called ‘third gender’, often referred to as hijras or kinnars, terms that transgress the socially-defined binary gender divide. Marginalized, and often socially stigmatized, these groups are naturally drawn towards liminal spaces such as Sufi dargāhs which encourage the transcendence of socio-religious boundaries. This paper explores certain typological aspects of traditional Sufi ritual and belief that make it particularly receptive to hijras, and the way in which hijras in turn appropriate and reconfigure Sufi religious belief to negotiate the tension between the liminality of their lived experience and the exclusive duality of the society around them. As well as utilizing fieldwork undertaken at the 808th

THE MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC COMMENTARY ON PLATO’S REPUBLIC: IBN RUSHD’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE POSITION AND POTENTIAL OF WOMEN

This paper investigates the twelfth-century commentary on Plato’s Republic by the Andalusian Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Ibn Rushd is considered to be the only Muslim philosopher who commented on the Republic. Written around 375 BC, Plato’s Republic discusses the order and character of a just city-state and contains revolutionary ideas on the position and qualities of women, which remained contested also in Ibn Rushd’s time. This Muslim philosopher is primarily known as the most esteemed commentator of Aristotle. However, for the lack of an Arabic translation of Aristotle’s Politics, Ibn Rushd commented on the political theory of Aristotle’s teacher, i.e. Plato’s Republic, instead. In his commentary, Ibn Rushd juxtaposes examples from Plato’s context and those from contemporary Muslim societies. Notably, when he diverges from the text, he does not drift off toward more patriarchal, Aristotelian interpretations. On the contrary, he argues that women are capable of being rulers and philosophers, that their true competencies remain unknown as long as they are deprived of education, and that this situation is detrimental to the flourishing of the city. This article aims to critically analyse Ibn Rushd’s statements on the position of women, as well as their reception in scholarly literature.

ZAHED, L.-M. (2020). HOMOSEXUALITY, TRANSIDENTITY, AND ISLAM: A STUDY OF SCRIPTURE. CONFRONTING THE POLITICS OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY. AMSTERDAM: AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS

The book under review is authored by Ludovic-Mohammed Zahed (b. 1977), a French scholar of social psychology and the founder of Homosexuels musulmans de France, an association for gay and queer Muslims in France. With his work Zahed, who identifies as a feminist, gay Muslim and holds a position of an imam in an inclusive mosque in Paris, seeks to contribute to the expanding body of academic work that engages with issues of gender and sexuality in Islam. As his sources of inspiration, he names Islamic feminist scholars Fatima Mernissi (e.g. 1987; 2003) and Amina Wadud (1999; 2008), as well as a prominent scholar on sexual diversity in Islam, Scott Siraj Kugle (2010; 2013). If Islamic feminist studies have already evolved into an established field that has its roots in the 1980s, topics of homosexuality and non-binary gender identity in Islam have begun attracting scholarly interest only relatively recently. Particularly in the last decade, there has been a visible growth in the number of published works that have engaged with these topics from theological, sociological, and historical perspectives (e.g., Roscoe & Murray, 1997; El-Rouayheb, 2009; Habib, 2010; Shah, 2018). Challenging the premise that homophobia and misogyny are in compliance with Islamic ethical values, Zadeh’s book clearly draws on the arguments developed in these trailblazing works.

CONTESTING BOUNDARIES AND PRODUCING THE NORM: GENDER-RELATED ISSUES IN ISLAMIC THEORY AND PRACTICE

Particularly in the last decades, due to the rapid development of theoretical perspectives across disciplines, the notion of gender has evolved into an umbrella term that today refers to a broad array of themes: from gender-defined social behaviour to sexual and reproductive rights and to matters related to control over one’s body. Following major trends in the humanities and social sciences, also the field of Islamic studies has been contributing to the ongoing scholarly discussion on gender. Two recent volumes that focus specifically on gender issues in Muslim societies (Duderija et al., 2020; Howe, 2020) have marked the expansion of the field, away from dealing primarily with topics related to Muslim women and femininity to a cautious but firm engagement with a broader spectrum of gender-related themes.

Читая Асада, Ахмеда и Халлака: что есть ислам сегодня?

This essay is a brief review of three books, What is Islam? The importance of being Islamic by Shahab Ahmed (2016), Secular translations: Nation-state, Modern Self, and Calculative Reason by Talal Asad (2018), and Restating Orientalism: A Critique of Modern Knowledge by Wael Hallaq (2018). The authors’ arguments are analyzed in terms of the ongoing “linguistic turn” in Western studies of Islam, that is, the creation of a methodological paradigm that recognizes the value of the polysemy of the global Muslim community (past and present) and pays attention to multiple languages (imperial, colonial, academic, etc.) to describe Islam. The essay concludes with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of this paradigm and its applicability to studies of Islam in Russia.

The Relevance of Islam in Belgium and Future Perspectives

Migration in Belgium in the 1960s represented the beginning of a social transformation process that has turned the traditionally Catholic country into a multicultural reality where Islam has achieved more significance. Consequently, the government had to adapt different structures to the new reality, and people had to learn to live together. In this regard, the Muslim community demanded public spaces to develop cultural and religious events. Second and third generations of Belgian Muslims conserve their family roots and require space for Islam in Belgium. As a result, progressively, the state has incorporated soft elements of Sharia Law in national and local legislation to respond to Muslim requirements. This fact has opened a debate in Belgium and has created controversies in some environments. Thus, this article analyses the implementation of Sharia Law legislation in Belgium and its consequences.

Фобия исламофобии как основа «критических мусульманских исследований». Как идеология превратилась в методологию изучения исламских сообществ на Западе

This article aims to deconstruct the research field of “critical Muslim studies” that is emerging within Western academic discourse. It seeks to expose the postcolonial injustices that Muslims are subjected to in the allocation of symbolic resources. Islamophobia is almost the dominant subject of research here, and the line between political activism related to the struggle for minority rights and academic knowledge becomes completely permeable. This article describes the epistemological foundations of critical Muslim studies and its conceptual language, developed by its proponents within the framework of postcolonial theory, related to the notions of racialization, Orientalization (and self-Orientalization), Eurocentrism and Westernization. The institutionalization of this trend is examined through selected European and American examples. Examination of the volume Islamophobia in Muslim Majority Countries demonstrates how left-liberal ideology, included in the production of academic knowledge, turns into a fully-fledged methodology that is desirable to a wide range of researchers.