Although the female Companions of Muhammad had a relevant role in the transmission of Traditions of the Prophet (hadith), a fundamental tool for Qurʾanic exegesis, women’s participation in the production of religious knowledge dramatically decreased during the classical era of Islam, although the extent of this marginalization is still debated among scholars (see Women and Religious Authority in the Premodern Era). Throughout the premodern era, written Qurʾanic tafsir production was an endeavor and a privilege reserved to major Muslim theologians and jurists-in other words, it was largely a male prerogative. All this draws a vivid picture of the era in which they lived – at the same time revealing an intimate portrait of the Prophet himself – and reinforces the central position of women in the Revelation of Islam and its subsequent development up to the present.The Arabic word tafsir (literally meaning “to clarify,” “to explain”) most commonly refers to the process of interpreting the Qurʾan, and to the vast literary genre of Qurʾanic exegesis (see the Oxford Bibliographies in Islamic Studies article “ Tafsir”). Extensive notes help to explain the cultural background of the first Muslims, including short biographies of the women of the Prophet Muh.ammad’s household. The role of women in Islam is a growing area of study and this collection, drawing on the Sahih of al-Bukhari, fulfils the need for a definitive resource which gathers together all the significant source material on the subject and presents it in an accessible way.Ĭomprehensively indexed, the topics covered include hygiene, divorce, marriage, sex and chastity, inheritance, and status and rights. Much of the answer may be found in this collection of major references to women in the Qur’a’n and the Hadiths – the two holy writings on which Islamic legislation and social practice are based.
NEW EDITION OF THE DEFINITIVE REFERENCE WORK
0 kommentar(er)
