Women’s status in Islam is unveiled via a two-fold approach:  textual (Qur’an; Hadith; Sunnah) and contextual (socio-cultural and ideological constructs and institutions established throughout history).

A once liberating and enlightening faith evolves in misogyny and oppressing cultural traditions: women’s veil, seclusion, subordination, and submission; Shari’a favoring men: child brides; obedience; sexuality; polygyny; domestic violence; divorce; inheritance; male guardianship; testimony.  What do Islamic sacred texts say about these themes?  We contextualize these themes within their own time’s geopolitics, exploring their historical roots and evolution from the zenith of Islam through modern western imperialism to modern and contemporary projects of Islamic reform/modernity.

Suggested readings: (1) Women and Gender in Islam, Leila Ahmed, Veritas Paper Edition (2021), Yale University Press; (2) Nine Parts of Desire:  The Hidden World of Islamic Women, Geraldine Brooks.

Instructor: Jamila Boulima, Ph.D.,  Linguistics; professor for 35 years in Education, Morocco; lifelong passion for discussing Islam; B.A. degree thesis:  “Islam and the Concept of Progress” in 1982.