In her work, Kecia Ali makes arguments about what constitutes acceptable behavior in the eyes of Godю As a feminism expert in the Muslim world, Ali hopes to provoke discussion about sexuality, gender, and sexual ethics within the Muslim community. Ali makes an effort to raise awareness of the issues with antiquated beliefs and legal practices that are still upheld in Muslim communities today. She also compares the status of women in Islamic societies to that of women in other parts of the globe, particularly Western societies. In comparison with earlier authors such as Amina Wadud, Fatima Mernisi, and Leila Ahmed, Ali attempts to articulate the cultures associated with the current Muslim society in the pre-modern Islamic era. However, her work revolves the notions of these authors through bringing the issues of sexuality and women status into the context.
Amine Tais extensively reviewed Ali's work by comparing it with other works from other authors. At the same time, Tais attempts to completely discuss the notions of Islamic legal traditions that make plot of Ali's book.
Ali's Book Review by Amine Tais
Amine Tais previously reviewed Ali's book on Sexual Ethics and Islam as a way to determine the author's notion and ideas about the current Islamic society.
According to Tais, Ali's book has two edges of focus.
First focus: The pre-modern Islamic legal traditions that are prevailing in the Muslim societies up to today
such as family law, focus on education, sexuality, language and culture, and also social classes (Tais). Through this focus, Ali easily depicts how these traditions impact the contemporary Muslim communities in the Muslim countries and other parts of the world.
Second focus: Rethinking sexual ethics in Islamic culture
Through this focus, the author adequately reflects areas such as social barriers that result from the traditions that brought to the current generations from the past. At the same time, the focus allows the reader to rethink and have an understanding of how the inherited sexual ethics affect the sexuality and gender particularly among the American Muslim community living in the current times.
According to Tais' review, Ali tries to challenge the pre-modern jurists to critically rethink about their assumptions, bases, and also conclusions regarding the today's Islamic culture and how it affects individuals living in Muslim societies and the outer world.
Ali felt that the contemporary Islam does not provide adequate alternatives concerning the inherited traditions and how individuals should profoundly choose the alternatives depending on the context, for instance, jurists' views on gender roles while addressing the Muslim community members living in other countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
Tais' Accuracy on Kecia Ali's Position
Tais has a deep reflection of Kecia Ali's notions and ideas in his review.
He successfully links Ali's work with the ideas that emerge with a deep understanding of the book.
Firstly
Tais depicts how Ali takes Islamic religion and legal tradition as an order and an actual construction that relies on its logic in determining things that affect the members (Tais).
Mainly, the Islamic legal tradition has strict rules which appeal differently to different members, especially the women and other sexual minorities in the society. With many contradictions and dilemma situations, Muslim community members may end up with insufficient alternatives to guide them in various positions, hence, commit immoralities (Tais).
The Jurists determination of the legal traditions may seem ethical with the way it focuses on consequences of multiple behaviors among its members, for example, homosexuality and spread of diseases. However, Ali felt that the jurists ignored the fact that humans are flawed and that their intellectual output may also be at the risk of capsizing (Tais). Thus, although the legal traditions seem to represent the will of God, it does not consider the capability of the people.
The traditions initially emerged from the claims made by the Qur'an and the Sunna of Muhammad
to guide the Muslim communities in day-to-day life. However, the jurists took the traditions to make legal claims which they believed that every Muslim follower should follow regardless of their location, social status, or gender.
According to the review by Tais, the traditions have "fundamentals" which are both divine and interchangeable (Tais). Therefore, any Muslim follower should be devoted to maintaining the traditions as long as they critically observe their religion.
Also, the legal traditions inherited from the old communities may fail to integrate with the contemporary societies. Tais addresses this issue reflecting on Ali's idea in comparing the past and the present cultures (Tais).
Most importantly, the American Muslims who are living in a context with numerous cultures may find it difficult to adhere to the requirements of these traditions. The new social and economic realities have translated into modern intellect among the current generations. For instance, an American Muslim born in America and open to the Western Cultures may find the gender roles upheld by the Islamic legal traditions as meaningless and of less importance (Tais). On the other hand, a Muslim born in the Near East region would certainly grow in a context revolved around the cultures and traditions that support the gender relations. Therefore, this will make it easier for the Muslim born in the Near East to understand and uphold the legal customs as compared to the American Muslim who was born and grew up in America (Tais).
Thus, Ali proposes that the bases, assumptions, and conclusions should reflect on ethics that are pre-modern. For instance, the issue of marriage and divorce should be transformed from a perspective of slave ownership and bound by a contract. Ali also felt that women's rights in Islam insufficient. Mostly, men have access to more rights than women, for example, the right to intermarry, right to divorce a woman, and the right to claim leadership positions right from domestic level. Thus, the female sexuality appears to be inherently dangerous in Islam.
Kecia Ali Book's Review by a Non-Muslim: Laury Silvers
Laury Silvers focuses on how Ali's analysis seeks its base from the Islamic jurisprudence (Silvers). At the same time, Silvers addresses Ali's bold move to the issue of women's rights even in the context which is outside her area such as genital mutilation (Silvers).
Throughout the book, Ali analyzes how the contemporary society of Islam tries to gradually change the legal traditions as a way to suit them with the current outgoing cultures of the world. However, Silvers recognizes that Ali finds the moves by the contemporary Islamic jurists as slow and inadequate to bring change while it is most needed. Thus, she condemns and criticizes the strong influences of gender and sexuality in Islam and terms them as unethical (Silvers).
With a complex situation existing in the deeply rooted Muslim legal traditions, Ali proposes for interpretative choices to be implemented to ensure that the traditions go hand-in-hand with pre-modern requirements (Silvers). These changes will favorably suit the Muslim communities in various parts of the world such as America and not only favor those communities from the Near East region.
According to Silvers, Ali emerges as a bold and a contemporary scholar who uses her opinions and thoughts to challenge the existing systems of morals in the Muslim communities (Silvers). At the same time, she deploys her skills in proposing for solutions that should be linked with the legal traditions to make them compatible with the current societies (Silvers).
She also focuses on the contradictions and weaknesses revolving around the traditions. With the present Muslims equipped with knowledge, Ali feels that they can challenge the traditions with their intellect (Silvers). As a result, this will pave the way for new means of interpretation.
Most importantly, Ali focuses on the rights of women in the Islamic culture. Currently, women do not access various rights in the society. Thus, they exist as slaves of culture and always in the shadows of their male counterparts. Furthermore, the deeply rooted legal traditions challenge every effort that women raise to do away with the customs (Silvers).
However, with the Muslim communities establishing in various parts of the globe, Ali finds it the appropriate moment for Islam jurists and the society at large to ethically reconsider and alter the current legal traditions.
Works Cited
Silvers, Laury. "Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence." Journal of Middle East Women's Studies 4.3 (2008): 134-136.
Tais, Amine. On Kecia Ali’s Sexual Ethics and Islam. November, 2010, http://aminetais.com/book-review/. Accessed 4 Dec. 2017.
