Shame, Modesty, and Honor in Islam
Published on 24. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-1-350-38614-3 (ISBN)
Description
With a particular emphasis on definitions, continuities, and change, this edited volume examines the historical role and function of haya' - or feelings of shame, modesty, and honor - in Islamic theology and law, and explores contemporary Muslims' engagements with the concept. The book explores various conceptions of haya' and the practices associated with the concept in both Muslim majority and minority contexts.
The empirically rich contributions reveal how haya' is socially constructed in varying social and cultural environments across the globe. From medieval Islam to the modern day, this book demonstrates the importance of haya' and its temporal and spatial transformations.
The empirically rich contributions reveal how haya' is socially constructed in varying social and cultural environments across the globe. From medieval Islam to the modern day, this book demonstrates the importance of haya' and its temporal and spatial transformations.
Reviews / Votes
Shame, Modesty and Honor in Islam provides important clarifications and correctives regarding three concepts that are often seriously misunderstood when considered in Islamic contexts. This volume offers a range of perspectives, paying attention to the historical development and contemporary interpretations of shame, modesty and honor. The illustrative case studies cover majority Muslim countries as well as the challenges faced by Muslim living in minority situations. * Carool Kersten, Research Professor Islamic Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium * This valuable volume focuses on the world of Islam and considers concepts of shame, modesty, and honor with a rigor long absent in cultural studies. The book focuses particularly on specific local conceptualizations. What are the best equivalents in Islamicate languages? To whom do the terms apply? How important is Islamic religion to the application of these terms? These and other enlightening questions are asked of concepts assumed to be central to Islamic and Islamicate culture. * A. Kevin Reinhart, Associate Professor of Religion, Dartmouth College, USA * Diving deep into the anthropological exploration of concepts related to shame, modesty, and honor in Muslim societies, this book is an invitation to better understand Islam-oriented normativities in action and context. * Baudouin Dupret, Research Director, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
415 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-38614-3 (9781350386143)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Ayang Utriza Yakin | Adis Duderija | An Van Raemdonck
Shame, Modesty, and Honor in Islam
E-Book
12/2023
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€31.99
Available for download
Ayang Utriza Yakin | Adis Duderija | An Van Raemdonck
Shame, Modesty, and Honor in Islam
E-Book
12/2023
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€31.99
Available for download
Persons
Ayang Utriza Yakin is a guest lecturer in Islamic law and research associate at UCLouvain, Belgium, and a postdoctoral researcher at Sciences Po Bordeaux, France.
Adis Duderija is Senior Lecturer in Islam and Society and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue at Griffith University, Australia.
An Van Raemdonck is postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Research on Culture and Gender, Ghent University, Belgium.
Adis Duderija is Senior Lecturer in Islam and Society and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue at Griffith University, Australia.
An Van Raemdonck is postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Research on Culture and Gender, Ghent University, Belgium.
Content
List of Contributors
List of abbreviations
Note on Transliteration
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Examining the Concept of Haya?:
Interpretations of Shame, Modesty, and Honor in Islam, Ayang Utriza Yakin (UCLouvain, Belgium), Adis Duderija (Griffith University, Australia), and An Van Raemdonck (Ghent University, Belgium)
I. Shame, Modesty, and Honor in Islam: Reflections on Various Conceptualizations
1. Shame and Muru'a in Medieval Islam, Danilo Marino (BGMSC, Freie University, Germany)
2. Overcoming the Conceptual link between Patriarchal Honor and Female Modesty Laws in the Islamic Interpretive Tradition, Adis Duderija (Griffith University, Australia)
3. The Visible and Invisible Kaleidoscope of h?aya??: Theologies and Mystics of Modesty in the Persianate world (10th-17th centuries), Amelie Neuve-Eglise (INALCO, France)
II. Shame, Modesty, and Honor in Islamic Environments
4. Understanding Shame and Modesty in the context of Muslim Marriage Narratives of Syrian Refugee Women in Jordan, An Van Raemdonck (Ghent University, Belgium)
5. Shame, Exile, and Muslim Masculinity among the Bellah Refugees from
Mali in Niger, Souleymane Diallo (University of Munster, Germany)
6. The Ultimate Vindication of Honour: Carok, Shame, and Islam in
Madura, Indonesia, Yanwar Pribadi (Islamic International University of Indonesia, Indonesia)
7. Islam, Modesty, and Dignity in Malaysia, Muhamad Ali (University of California Riverside, USA)
8. Fashion, Clothing, and Modesty in Republican Turkey, Alberto Fabio Ambrosio (Luxembourg School of Religion & Society, Luxembourg)
9. Heshima and Sexuality beyond Marriage:
Gendered Interpretations of Morality in Zanzibar, Marloes Hamelink (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
III. Shame, Modesty, and Honor in Islam in Minority Context
10. Coping with Honor, Shame, and Modesty:
Muslims Undergoing Biomedical Treatments in Italy, Federica Sona (Max Planck Institute, Germany)
11. Between Family and Friends: Shame, Honor, and the Politics of Eating and Drinking Among South Asian British Muslims, John Lever (University of Huddersfield) and Irem Ozgoren Kinli (Izmir Katip Celebi University)
12. Modesty and Malay/Muslim Women in Singapore: The Impact of Traditionalism and Revivalism, Norshahril Saat and Nur Syafiqah Mohd Taufek (NUS, Singapore)
13. Evolving Islamic Modesty in China: Confucianism, Arabization, & Sinicization, Wai-Yip Ho (Education University of Hong Kong, China)
14. The Headscarf and Modesty in Multicultural Aotearoa New Zealand:
A Post Christchurch Attack Story , Eva F. Nisa (Australian National University, Australia)
Bibliography
Index
List of abbreviations
Note on Transliteration
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Examining the Concept of Haya?:
Interpretations of Shame, Modesty, and Honor in Islam, Ayang Utriza Yakin (UCLouvain, Belgium), Adis Duderija (Griffith University, Australia), and An Van Raemdonck (Ghent University, Belgium)
I. Shame, Modesty, and Honor in Islam: Reflections on Various Conceptualizations
1. Shame and Muru'a in Medieval Islam, Danilo Marino (BGMSC, Freie University, Germany)
2. Overcoming the Conceptual link between Patriarchal Honor and Female Modesty Laws in the Islamic Interpretive Tradition, Adis Duderija (Griffith University, Australia)
3. The Visible and Invisible Kaleidoscope of h?aya??: Theologies and Mystics of Modesty in the Persianate world (10th-17th centuries), Amelie Neuve-Eglise (INALCO, France)
II. Shame, Modesty, and Honor in Islamic Environments
4. Understanding Shame and Modesty in the context of Muslim Marriage Narratives of Syrian Refugee Women in Jordan, An Van Raemdonck (Ghent University, Belgium)
5. Shame, Exile, and Muslim Masculinity among the Bellah Refugees from
Mali in Niger, Souleymane Diallo (University of Munster, Germany)
6. The Ultimate Vindication of Honour: Carok, Shame, and Islam in
Madura, Indonesia, Yanwar Pribadi (Islamic International University of Indonesia, Indonesia)
7. Islam, Modesty, and Dignity in Malaysia, Muhamad Ali (University of California Riverside, USA)
8. Fashion, Clothing, and Modesty in Republican Turkey, Alberto Fabio Ambrosio (Luxembourg School of Religion & Society, Luxembourg)
9. Heshima and Sexuality beyond Marriage:
Gendered Interpretations of Morality in Zanzibar, Marloes Hamelink (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
III. Shame, Modesty, and Honor in Islam in Minority Context
10. Coping with Honor, Shame, and Modesty:
Muslims Undergoing Biomedical Treatments in Italy, Federica Sona (Max Planck Institute, Germany)
11. Between Family and Friends: Shame, Honor, and the Politics of Eating and Drinking Among South Asian British Muslims, John Lever (University of Huddersfield) and Irem Ozgoren Kinli (Izmir Katip Celebi University)
12. Modesty and Malay/Muslim Women in Singapore: The Impact of Traditionalism and Revivalism, Norshahril Saat and Nur Syafiqah Mohd Taufek (NUS, Singapore)
13. Evolving Islamic Modesty in China: Confucianism, Arabization, & Sinicization, Wai-Yip Ho (Education University of Hong Kong, China)
14. The Headscarf and Modesty in Multicultural Aotearoa New Zealand:
A Post Christchurch Attack Story , Eva F. Nisa (Australian National University, Australia)
Bibliography
Index