Female Religious Authority in Shi'i Islam: Past and Present

Case studies of women exercising religious authority in Shi?i Islam from the classical period to the present Islamic religious authority is conventionally understood to be an exclusively male purview. Yet when dissected into its various manifestations--leading prayer, preaching, issuing fatwas, transmitting hadith, judging in court, teaching law, theology, and other Islamic sciences and generally shaping the Islamic scholarly tradition--nuances emerge that hint at the presence of women in the performance of some of these functions. This collection of case studies, covering the period from classical Islam to the present, and taken from across the Shi?i Islamic world, reflects on the roles that women have played in exercising religious authority across time and space. Comparative reflection on the case studies allows for the formulation of hypotheses regarding the conditions and developments--whether theological, jurisprudential, social, economic, or political--that enhanced or stifled the flourishing of female religious authority in Shi?i Islam. Key Features Features case studies of women exercising religious authority, including hadith transmitters, jurists, scholars of religion, women acting as representative for a leading ayatollah, and women judges Addresses the classical, medieval and modern periods Brings together scholars from Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Anthropology, History, and Art History Provides insight into contemporary debates about female religious authority in Islam Questions assumptions about the inherently progressive agenda of female religious authorities Contributors Yasmin Amin, University of Exeter Alyssa Gabbay, University of North Carolina at Greensboro Robert Gleave, University of Exeter Mirjam Künkler, Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study Raffaele Mauriello, Allameh Tabataba'i University and Sapienza University of Rome Maryam Rutner, New York University Devin Stewart, Emory University Edith Szanto, American University of Iraq, Sulaimani Liyakat Takim, McMaster University Yusuf Ünal, Emory University

• | Author: Mirjam Künkler|Devin J. Stewart
• | Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• | Publication Date: August 30, 2021
• | Number of Pages: 420 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover
• | ISBN-10: 1474426603
• | ISBN-13: 9781474426602