Women as Imams

Rezensionen / Stimmen

With expert attention and great expository clarity, Simonetta Calderini leads us into the articulations of one of the most debated and interesting themes of the current global discourse on the relationship between Islam and women's rights: that of female religious leadership and in particular of the imama of women. * Studi Magrebini (trans. by Bloomsbury Academic) * This book is a very interesting book indeed and the topics discussed in it are very relevant to contemporary Muslims. * The Muslim World Book Review * [Calderini] does what she set out to do in the introduction: take a sober look at the history of the uses of scripture, hadith, and the past that inform legal rulings and socio-political stances on the issue of women leading women and/or men in prayer. * Journal of Contemporary Religion * Scholars of Islam ... will find many significant insights in this book, which will be important not only to read but to discuss and extend in further publications. * HAWWA: Journal of Women of the Middle East * This book gives a rich and varied introduction to women's religious authority in the context of Islamic history. It offers a thorough examination of all aspects of consideration to modern debates: legal, cultural and doctrinal. It spans the full historical range from the Classical period of Islamic thought all the way to modernity. By doing so, it once again confirms that Islam has always been contested and diverse. This is a must read book for anyone interested in the matter of women as Imams today, whether practitioners and/or academics. Important and timely - this in-depth study makes a crucial contribution to our understanding of both the classical discussions of women acting as leaders in the Muslim community - and the modern debates. This book will hopefully have impact not only in the academic world, but in wider discussions around Islam, gender and law. A masterful intellectual history of Islamic scholarly opinions on when, how, and whom women may lead in prayer. This is an invaluable study that with methodical precision surveys the thicket of legal and historical material in Islam to provide necessary context for contemporary arguments about female religious authority and leadership of ritual prayer