Table of Contents
Acknowledgements x
Acknowledgements for the 2016 edition xii
Note on texts, translation, and transliteration xiv
Preface to the 2016 edition xv
Introduction xxi
1 Marriage, Money, and Sex 1
"And according to what they spend from their wealth…" 3
Sex 6
Intermarriage 14
Conclusion 22
Coda 1 23
2 Lesser Evils: Divorce in Islamic Ethics 28
Untying the knot 29
Extreme circumstances 33
Prospects for reform 38
Conclusion 40
Coda 2 43
3 "What your right hands possess": Slave Concubinage in Muslim Texts and Discourses 50
Islam and slavery: overview of sources and history 55
Women, war captives, and withdrawal 58
Conclusion 64
Coda 3 67
4 Prohibited Acts and Forbidden Partners: Illicit Sex in Islamic Jurisprudence 72
Protecting chastity: the classical texts 76
Paternity, legal fictions, and non-marital sex in contemporary Muslim thought 83
Conclusion 89
Coda 4 91
5 Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Same-Sex Intimacy in Muslim Thought 96
History 100
Don't ask, don't tell 106
Same-sex marriage 112
Conclusion 117
Coda 5 118
6 "Reduce but do not destroy": Female "Circumcision" in Islamic Sources 126
Islamic or un-Islamic? 128
"Reduce but do not destroy" 134
Conclusion 139
Coda 6 141
7 "If you have touched women": Female
Bodies and Male Agency in the Qur'an 146
To whom am I speaking? 147
A difficult verse 151
Garments for one another 160
Conclusion 165
Coda 7 168
8 The Prophet Muhammad, his Beloved Aishah, and Modern Muslim Sensibilities 173
Apologetics and polemics 176
Searching for solace 182
Conclusion 185
Coda 8 188
9 Toward an Islamic Ethics of Sex 193
Afterword to the 2016 edition 200
Notes 208
Bibliography 253
Index 277