The Women's Khutbah Book: Contemporary Sermons on Spirituality and Justice from around the World

by Sa'diyya Shaikh (Editor), Fatima Seedat (Editor)

Overview

A first-ever collection of contemporary Muslim women’s khutbahs (sermons) drawing on their social, religious, and spiritual experiences and framed by original reflections on an emerging Muslim feminist ethics

Within the Muslim world, there is a dynamic and exciting social change afoot: a number of communities across the globe have embraced more gender-inclusive and representative ideas of religious authority. Within some spaces, women have taken on the role of preacher at the Jumu’ah (Friday) communal prayers. In other communities, women have been leading the prayers, officiating at marriage and funeral ceremonies, or participating on mosque boards or executive committees. These new developments signify a transformation in contemporary positions on gender and religious authority.

This pioneering book makes an innovative contribution to Muslim feminist ethics. It is grounded in a collection of religious sermons (khutbahs) by contemporary Muslim women in a variety of new and emerging contexts, in South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Canada, Mexico, the United States, Germany, Denmark, and the United Kingdom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300269031
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	10/13/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Sa’diyya Shaikh is associate professor in the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Cape Town and author of Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn 'Arabī, Gender, and Sexuality.Fatima Seedat is head of the Department of African Feminist Studies at the University of Cape Town.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 From the Musallah to the Minbar: Tracing Women's Presence in the Mosque 7

2 A Tafsir of experience: Spirituality, Embodiment, and Knowledge 19

Engaged Surrender amina wadud 20

Feminist Ontologies: Rahmah and 'Adl 29

An-Nur (Divine Light) Shaykha Oumou Malik Gueye 31

Khutbah al-Muwaddah lil Ghuraba-For the Love of the Queer Strangers Ghazala Anwar 38

Ethics of Gender Justice|vOmaima Abou Bakr 46

Resisting the Satanic Principle, Recovering Maslahah Rabeya Müller 52

This Speaking Earth Rabia Terri Harris 59

Subjectivity and Consciousness: Ihsan 67

The Gift of Four Human Births Nur Rofiah 69

Spirituality of the Ordinary Sa'diyya Shaikh 74

The Overview Effect Sheena Baharudin 81

Darkness to Dawn and the Spiritual Journey In Between Amira Quraishi 87

Ramadan: The Divine Treatment, by Shaykha Amina Teslima al-Jerrahi (Edlin Ortiz Graham) 94

Sociality and Difference: Maslahah 103

Knowing in and through Difference Farima Seedat 105

God's Command for Justice in the Qur'an Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons 111

Rethinking Shari'ah-A Guidance and a Mercy Sherin Khankan 119

No Justice, No Peace: Social Justice as an Islamic Imperative Tamsila Tauqir 126

Resisting Injustice: Ummah and Ubuntu 135

Our People First: Reclaiming the Spirit of June 16, 1976 Tshegofatso Masibi 137

Black Consciousness and Intersectionality: Toward Social Justice and Spiritual Growth Leila Khan 143

A Self-Reflexive Response to Gender-Based Violence in Our Communities Nafisa Patel 150

Black Muslim Women Preserving Islam in Women-Headed Households Sindile Amina Ngubane 157

Knowing God, Seeking Justice Zainah Anwar 165

Knowing God, Opening the Heart Farah Zeb 171

Marriage: Mawaddah and Mithaq 179

Marriage: Foundation for a Peaceful Society Musdah Mulia 181

Two Wedding Khutbahs Seemi Ghazi 187

Divine Love, Human Love: Marriage as Heart-Cultivation Sa'diyya Shaikh 195

Not a Nikah Khutbah Fatima Seedat 198

3 Conceptualizing a Tafsir of Experience 201

4 A Practical Guide to Writing Khutbahs 213

Glossary of Arabic Terms 221

Notes 225

Acknowledgments 237

General Index 239

Index of Qur'anic Verses 246

Index of Hadiths 248

Editorial Reviews

These bold, tender, and fierce women are not asking for permission to preach: they are marching ahead with a luminous presence. The diversity of these preachers is astonishing, as is their integrity, brilliance, and shared commitment to the life of the spirit, love, and justice. This book will uplift, transform, and inspire readers.”—Omid Safi, Duke University

“An excellent addition to the field of Islamic studies, this book illustrates beautifully and persuasively the diverse types of new female religious actors and the ways in which they are transforming religious authority.”—Mulki Al-Sharmani, University of Helsinki

“By turns inspiring and poignant, insightful and incendiary, the sermons collected here are a treasure-trove of wisdom from an impressive and impressively diverse array of scholars and community leaders. The Women’s Khutbah Book is an essential resource.”—Kecia Ali, editor of Half of Faith: American Muslim Marriage and Divorce in the Twenty-First Century
“Shaikh and Seedat interweave inspiring sermons by present-day Muslim women with the eloquent voices of historical women, bringing intersecting experiences of injustice to the center of Muslim ethics. The result—an original and transformative feminist theology—is a pleasure to read.”—Ziba Mir-Hosseini, author of Journeys Toward Gender Equality in Islam

“This delightful, inspiring book enables ‘ordinary’ women (and men) to transcend the limits of the private and reshape Muslim publics. The khutbahs collected here have created a world not seen before, embodying, in the beautiful words of their editors, ‘a tafsir of possibility.’" – Gabeba Baderoon, Pennsylvania State University

From the Publisher

“An excellent addition to the field of Islamic studies, this book illustrates beautifully and persuasively the diverse types of new female religious actors and the ways in which they are transforming religious authority.”—Mulki Al-Sharmani, University of Helsinki

Mulki Al-Sharmani

“These bold, tender, and fierce women are not asking for permission to preach: they are marching ahead with a luminous presence. The diversity of these preachers is astonishing, as is their integrity, brilliance, and shared commitment to the life of the spirit, love, and justice. This book will uplift, transform, and inspire readers.”—Omid Safi, Duke University

Omid Safi

“Shaikh and Seedat interweave inspiring sermons by present-day Muslim women with the eloquent voices of historical women, bringing intersecting experiences of injustice to the center of Muslim ethics. The result—an original and transformative feminist theology—is a pleasure to read.”—Ziba Mir-Hosseini, author of Journeys Toward Gender Equality in Islam

Ziba Mir-Hosseini

“By turns inspiring and poignant, insightful and incendiary, the sermons collected here are a treasure-trove of wisdom from an impressive and impressively diverse array of scholars and community leaders. The Women’s Khutbah Book is an essential resource.”—Kecia Ali, editor of Half of Faith: American Muslim Marriage and Divorce in the Twenty-First Century

Kecia Ali