Women as Imams: Classical Islamic Sources and Modern Debates on Leading Prayer

Description

There is a long and rich history of opinion centred on female prayer leadership in Islam that has occupied the minds of theologians and jurists alike. It includes outright prohibition, dislike, permissibility under certain conditions and, although rarely, unrestricted sanction, or even endorsement This book discusses debates drawn from scholars of the formative period of Islam who engaged with the issue of female prayer leadership. SimonettaCalderini critically analyses their arguments, puts them into their historical context, and, for the first time, tracks down how they have informed current views on female imama (prayer leadership). In presenting the variety of opinions discussed in the past by Sunni and Shi'i scholars, and some of the Sufis among them, the book uncovers how they are, at present, being used selectively, depending on modern agendas and biases. It also reviews the roles and types of authority of current women imams in diverse contexts spanning from Asia, Africa and Europe to America. The research offers readers the opportunity to gain nuanced answers to the question of female imama today that may lead to informed discussions and to change, if not necessarily in practices then at the very least in attitudes. This ground-breaking book interrogates the cases of women who are reported to have led prayer in the past. It then analyses the voices of current women imams, many of whom engage with those women of the past to validate their own roles in the present and so pave the way for the future. Cover page Halftitle page Title page Coppyright page Dedication CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PROLOGUE INTRODUCTION Preliminaries Issues and aims Methodology, theoretical framework The sources and state of studies The structure of the book Notes Part I THE PAST Chapter 1 PRAYER LEADERSHIP, IMAMS AND WOMEN: DEFINING THE CONTEXTS AND SETTING THE I SSUES Introduction Prayer and women: Purity and leadership The imam as prayer leader Conclusion Notes Chapter 2 CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS: WOMEN LEADING WOMEN Setting the narrative context: Umm Salama Hadiths on female prayer leadership and Sunni jurisprudence Shi‘i positions on female imama of women: Identity, shared issues and esoteric interpretations Conclusion Notes Chapter 3 CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS: WOMEN LEADING MEN Setting the context Women as prayer leaders of men: Umm Waraqa and Ghazala Legal arguments on women leading men in prayer Ibn al-‘Arabi and female imama Conclusion Notes Part II THE PRESENT Chapter 4 PRESENT DEBATES AND PRACTICES Introduction Some current cases of women imams of women Some current cases of women imams of mixed congregations Contemporary arguments and debates on female imams of men Uses of the past in contemporary debates Conclusion Notes CONCLUSION Notes GLOSSARY BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX