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ON HIJAB AND AWRAH OF WOMEN AND SLAVES ( from FROM EL FADL’S ‘speaking in God’s name p.481-484)

ON HIJAB AND AWRAH OF WOMEN AND SLAVES ( FROM EL FADL’S ‘speaking in God’s name p.481-484)-reproduced verbatim There are several material elements that are often ignored when discussing the issue of ḥijāb or the ‘awrah of women. These elements suggest that the issue of fitnah might have dominated and shaped the discourse on the ‘awrah of women, but they are also informative as to the possible authorial enterprise behind the fitnah traditions. There are six main elements that, I believe, warrant careful examination in trying to analyze the laws of ‘awrah, and that invite us to re-examine the relationship between ‘awrah and fitnah. Firstly, early jurists disagreed on the meaning of zīnah (adornments) that women are commanded to cover. Some jurists argued that it is all of the body including the hair and face except for one eye. The majority argued that women must cover their full body except for the face and hands. Some jurists held that women may expose their feet and their arms up

Khaled Abou El Fadl's Approach to the Hadith

Khaled Abou El Fadl's   Approach to the Hadith Khaled Abou El Fadl (b.1963) is one of the most distinguished scholars of Islamic law today. He is also one of the few progressive Muslim scholars who has fully engaged with the postmodern episteme, post-enlightenment hermeneutics, and literary theory, as well as applied them in relation to gen­der issues in Islam, including the interpretation of hadith pertaining to gender. Much of his Qur’anic hermeneutics and approach to Islamic jurisprudence is in agreement with scholars such as mohsen Kadivar and nasr Abu Zayd , and need not be repeated. However, El Fadl’s work also includes discussions pertaining to (in)determinacy of meaning, ambiguity of textual hermeneu­tics, and the process of meaning derivation as employed, for example, in literary theory and semiotics (which he has applied to both Qur’an and hadith texts) (El Fadl, 2001, 88). El Fadl has systematically engaged in these discussions and has applied them to the issue of wo

A Reply to ‘Abdul Haq Al-Ashanti’s “Critique” of My articles on Neo-Traditional Salafi construction of the Religious Other

A Reply to ‘Abdul Haq Al-Ashanti ’s “Critique” of My articles on Neo-Traditional Salafi construction of the Religious Other By Adis Duderija, Ph.D. Couple of months ago I was contacted by email by AbdulHaq ibn Kofi ibn Kwesi al-Ashanti   who informed me that he wrote a ‘ critique ’ of my two articles on what I term Neo-traditional Salafi (NTS) construction of the Religious Other  (the articles in question can be read here and here ) in which he has made a number of erroneous claims about my work that deserve unequivocal refutation. More importantly,  ‘Abdul  Haqq’s  ‘critique’ warrants attention  because it illustrates well  the problematic nature of more mainstream classical Sunni manahij ( sg. manhaj) on not only the normative relationship between the Muslim Self and the Religious other but also on other issues pertaining to gender , violence and tolerance. REPLY TO POINT ONE: ‘Abdul Haq starts his ‘critique’ by rightly complaining that the label as well as the concept