Editorial

Abstract

With this issue of AJISS, we bring this volume to a close. This year has
brought many changes to AJISS, not only in the scope of Islamic issues
highlighted within the articles, but also in the range of opinions articulated
by their authors. As a fourm for intellectual debates on issues relating to
Islam, MISS strives to “push the intellectual envelope” of Islamic thought.
No subject matter better reflects this attempt than the issue of women,
which many articles in this issue analyze.
In her article “Oikos/polis Conflict: Perspectives of Gender Feminists
and Islamic Revivalists,” Zeenath Kausar examines the continuing debate
on women’s political participation in order to demonstrate “how gender
feminists prefer women’s political participation at the cost of deconstructing
gender and family, whereas contemporary Islamic revivalists “support
and encourage women’s political participation-but not at the expense of
family and the distinct identity of women.” After a brief survey of feminist
philosophy and Muslim revivalist discourse, Kausar concludes that gender
feminists create an atmosphere of conflict between men and women, while
Muslim revivalists look at men and women as copartners in constructing
civilization.
In questioning exactly this notion of copartnership between men and
women, Hibba Abugideiri undertakes, in her “Allegorical Gender: The
Figure of Eve Revisited,” a discourse analysis of classical Islamic texts in
order to uncover how gender categories were constructed by classical
exegetes. By focusing on the figure of Eve, which “has not only defined
the identity of Muslim woman: it has also set the parameters for how that
identity has been forged,” she questions the authoritative value and relevance
of the classical view of Eve for contemporary social demands.
Underlying her Qur’anic rereading of Eve’s role in the parable of creation
lies the goal of forging a new methodological approach to Islamic issues
that need to be redressed, particularly in light of the current wave of
Islamic revivalism.
Finally, in her review essay “Muslim Women’s Studies: Two Contributions,”
Mohja Kahf engages in a critical analysis of two gender histories
that interface nicely with Abugideiri’s study. Here, Kahf reviews two forays
into the field of Muslim women’s studies that uncover the place of ...