Fourteen centuries of Islamic thought have produced a legacy of interpretive readings of the Qu'ran written almost entirely by men. Now, with Qu'ran and Woman, Amina Wadud provides a first interpretive reading by a woman, a reading which validates the female voice in the Qu'ran and brings it out of the shadows. Muslim progressives have long argued that it is not the religion but patriarchal interpretation and implementation of the Qu'ran that have kept women oppressed. For many, the way to reform is the reexamination and reinterpretation of religious texts. Qu'ran and Woman contributes a gender inclusive reading to one of the most fundamental disciplines in Islamic thought, Qu'ranic exegesis. Wadud breaks down specific texts and key words which have been used to limit women's public and private role, even to justify violence toward Muslim women, revealing that their original meaning and context defy such interpretations. What her analysis clarifies is the lack of gender bias, precedence, or prejudice in the essential language of the Qur'an. Despite much Qu'ranic evidence about the significance of women, gender reform in Muslim society has been stubbornly resisted. Wadud's reading of the Qu'ran confirms women's equality and constitutes legitimate grounds for contesting the unequal treatment that women have experienced historically and continue to experience legally in Muslim communities. The Qu'ran does not prescribe one timeless and unchanging social structure for men and women, Wadud argues lucidly, affirming that the Qu'ran holds greater possibilities for guiding human society to a more fulfilling and productive mutual collaboration between men and women than as yet attained by Muslims or non-Muslims.

Does Islam call for the oppression of women? Non-Muslims point to the subjugation of women that occurs in many Muslim countries, especially those that claim to be "Islamic," while many Muslims read the Qur’an in ways that seem to justify sexual oppression, inequality, and patriarchy. Taking a wholly different view, Asma Barlas develops a believer’s reading of the Qur’an that demonstrates the radically egalitarian and antipatriarchal nature of its teachings. Beginning with a historical analysis of religious authority and knowledge, Barlas shows how Muslims came to read inequality and patriarchy into the Qur’an to justify existing religious and social structures and demonstrates that the patriarchal meanings ascribed to the Qur’an are a function of who has read it, how, and in what contexts. She goes on to reread the Qur’an’s position on a variety of issues in order to argue that its teachings do not support patriarchy. To the contrary, Barlas convincingly asserts that the Qur’an affirms the complete equality of the sexes, thereby offering an opportunity to theorize radical sexual equality from within the framework of its teachings. This new view takes readers into the heart of Islamic teachings on women, gender, and patriarchy, allowing them to understand Islam through its most sacred scripture, rather than through Muslim cultural practices or Western media stereotypes. For this revised edition of Believing Women in Islam, Asma Barlas has written two new chapters—“Abraham’s Sacrifice in the Qur’an” and “Secular/Feminism and the Qur’an”—as well as a new preface, an extended discussion of the Qur’an’s “wife-beating” verse and of men’s presumed role as women’s guardians, and other updates throughout the book.

"Rasmussen has written a classic study of the world of Islamic soundscapes, performances and forms of musical piety in that most complex of societies, Indonesia. With great sensitivity, an alert musical response to players, reciters and audiences, a keen practitioner's ear and eye for subtlety as well as for the complexities of 'noise', she changes common assumptions about Muslim music and, not least, gender in changing Islamic ritual cultures. Her own political awareness and her professional as well as personal relations with women Qu'ran reciters contribute to an exciting an original volume that I recommend to any one exploring the riches of Islamic performances and debates in the contemporary world."—Michael Gilsenan, author of Lords of the Lebanese Marches: Violence and Narrative in an Arab Society

Throughout history, women have been powerless and weak. Before the Holy Prophet Muhammad's arrival, a woman was regarded as man's slave and property, and no religion or nation could offer the woman rights and freedom. When their husbands died, they were forced to marry relatives or sold for money. There was no law that could protect them. Prophet Muhammad proclaimed in the name of God that men and women are equal. He declared that a man does not own his wife. He may not sell or force her into slavery. The teaching of the Holy Prophet raised the status of women as being not only equal to men, but also gave them freedom for social, physical and spiritual development. This book is about women's rights and freedom in Islam and shows that Holy Prophet Muhammad was indeed the liberator of women.

In many societies, a woman is still regarded as a second-class citizen and deprived of various basic rights enjoyed by the male population. Deeply resenting this discrimination, they have championed a fight to obtain for themselves an equal status which unfortunately to date eludes them in the more modern Western states. Whereas the pendulum has swung to the extremes and has opened the way to licentiousness in the modern society, the West has often regarded Islamic women as being backward in a male-dominated world. On the contrary, Islam was the first religion formally to grant the women a status never known before. The Holy Quran, the sacred scripture of Islam, contains hundreds of teachings, which apply both to men and women alike. The moral, spiritual and economic equality of men and women as propagated by Islam is unquestionable. The specific verses of the Holy Quran, which address themselves to men or women, deal with either their physical differences or the role they each have to play in safeguarding the moral fibre of the society Islam envisages. This short booklet, largely based on the original Quranic teachings, deals with the rights enjoyed by Muslim women, the diversity of their functions as Islam sees it, the concepts of marriage, divorce and polygamy and how social and moral values are preserved in Islam. I am particularly grateful to Muhammad Zafrulla Khan for writing a treatise on a subject so misunderstood by the West.

The Holy Qur'an EBook version English Translation and Commentary - Detailed commentary with extensive references to standard authorities, both classical and modern - Comprehensive introduction deals with Islamic teachings and the collection and arrangement of the Holy Qur'an - Extensive Index Reviews "There is no other translation or commentary of the Holy Qur'an in the English Language to compete with Maulvi Muhammad Ali's Masterpiece." -- Al-Haj Hafiz Ghulam Sarwar, translator of the Holy Qur'an "To deny the excellence of Maulvi Muhammad Ali's translation, the influence for good it has exercised and its proselytizing utility would be to deny the existence of the light of the sun." -- Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi, leader of Orthodox Muslim opinion in India) ...has all the merits of what is desired in a translation." -- The Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam, Lahore, Pakistan ..".By far the best text currently available in the English language...incontestably one of the finest interpretations of the scared scripture of Islam. I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending this translation to students and others seeking to understand the essence and epitome of the Quranic message." -- Prof. T. Hargery, Director, African Studies, Northeast Missouri State University, Kirksville ..".an austerely faithful translation in English...based on a close study of commentaries of the Qur' an - the work of my learned name-sake Maulvi Muhammad Ali of Lahore...The translation and the notes...all demonstrate the labour of love and devoted zeal." -- Late Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar of "The Comrade" "It is certainly a work of which any scholar might legitimately be proud." -- The Quest, London