Women in the Qur’an:
An Emancipatory Reading
Asma Lamrabet
Translated by Myriam Francois-Cerrah
Square View
This book has been selected to receive financial assistance from English PEN’s “PEN Translates!” programme, supported by Arts Council England. English PEN exists to promote literature and our understanding of it, to uphold writers’ freedoms around the world, to campaign against the persecution and imprisonment of writers for stating their views, and to promote the friendly co-operation of writers and the free exchange of ideas. www.englishpen.org
Women in the Qur’an: An Emancipatory Reading
First published in England by Square View
Distributed by Kube Publishing Ltd
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© Asma Lambaret, 2016
All rights reserved
The right of Asma Lambaret to be identified
as the author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
CIP data for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-0-99351-660-3 casebound ISBN 978-0-99351-661-0 paperback ISBN 978-0-99351-662-7 ebook
Cover design: Fatima Jamadar Book design/Typesetting: Nasir Cadir
CONTENTS
Preface to the English Edition
A meeting with very special Muslim women
What kind of liberation are we speaking of?
When the Qur’an speaks of women
Balkis, Queen of Sheba: A democratic queen
Sarah and Hagar, emblems of monotheism
Zulaykha or forbidden love
Umm Musa and Asiah, the free women
The daughter of Shu‘ayb and the meeting with Musa
Maryam, the favourite
Maryam, a link between Christians and Muslims
The birth of Maryam
Maryam’s spiritual retreat
Revelation and annunciation
The birth of ‘Isa and all the struggles
Maryam and her son, a ‘sign’ for the worlds
PART TWO
When the Qur’an speaks to women
The language of the Qur’an, a masculine language?
When the Qur’an responds to female demands
A mubahalah, or when the Qur’an encourages women to social participation
The Muhajirat or female political refugees
The mubayi‘at or the political participation of women
Al-Mujadilah, when God listens to the secrets of a woman
And the other verses?
Polygamy
Testimony
Inheritance
Hit them … ?
Conclusion
Islam or the story of an aborted women’s revolution
Glossary of Terms
Publishers End Notes
