Asma Barlas
Encyclopedia
Asma Barlas is an academic educated in Pakistan
and the United States
. She is the Director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity of the department of politics at Ithaca College
, New York
. Her specialties include comparative and international politics, Islam and Qur'anic hermeneutics, and women and gender. Barlas was named to the prestigious Spinoza Chair at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands
for "her prominent contributions to discussions about women and Islam".
Her views and interpretations of Islam
have been called" but she herself rejects this term, unless it is defined as "a discourse of gender equality
and social justice
that derives its understanding and mandate from the Qur’an and seeks the practice of rights and justice for all human beings in the totality of their existence across the public-private continuum."
in 1950, Barlas was one of the first women to be inducted into the foreign service. Her diplomatic career was ended, when General Zia ul Haq dismissed her from the Foreign Service on two charges; for calling him a "buffoon" in her personal diary (leaked by her former in-laws) and for having said (at a private dinner at the home of Pakistan's ambassador to the Philippines) "that the judiciary in Pakistan was neither free and nor fair". She joined the paper, The Muslim, as assistant editor, but eventually had to leave Pakistan for reasons of personal safety in 1983 and later received political asylum in the U.S.
Barlas is former chair of the Department of Politics and founding director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity at Ithaca College. She has a B.A. in English Literature and Philosophy, an M.A in Journalism from Pakistan, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver
in Colorado
.
of the Qur'an, a topic she has explored in her book, "Believing Women" in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an. She has also written numerous editorials for The Daily Times, Pakistan.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She is the Director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity of the department of politics at Ithaca College
Ithaca College
Ithaca College is a private college located on the South Hill of Ithaca, New York. The school was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music. The college has a strong liberal arts core, but also offers several pre-professional programs and some graduate programs. The college is...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Her specialties include comparative and international politics, Islam and Qur'anic hermeneutics, and women and gender. Barlas was named to the prestigious Spinoza Chair at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
for "her prominent contributions to discussions about women and Islam".
Her views and interpretations of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
have been called" but she herself rejects this term, unless it is defined as "a discourse of gender equality
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
and social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
that derives its understanding and mandate from the Qur’an and seeks the practice of rights and justice for all human beings in the totality of their existence across the public-private continuum."
Biography
Born in PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
in 1950, Barlas was one of the first women to be inducted into the foreign service. Her diplomatic career was ended, when General Zia ul Haq dismissed her from the Foreign Service on two charges; for calling him a "buffoon" in her personal diary (leaked by her former in-laws) and for having said (at a private dinner at the home of Pakistan's ambassador to the Philippines) "that the judiciary in Pakistan was neither free and nor fair". She joined the paper, The Muslim, as assistant editor, but eventually had to leave Pakistan for reasons of personal safety in 1983 and later received political asylum in the U.S.
Barlas is former chair of the Department of Politics and founding director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity at Ithaca College. She has a B.A. in English Literature and Philosophy, an M.A in Journalism from Pakistan, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
Research
In her recent work, she has focused on the way Muslims produce religious knowledge, especially patriarchal exegesisExegesis
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...
of the Qur'an, a topic she has explored in her book, "Believing Women" in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an. She has also written numerous editorials for The Daily Times, Pakistan.
Books and Book Chapters
- “Women’s and Feminist Readings of the Qur’an,” in Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.), Cambridge Companion to the Qur’an (Cambridge University Press, 2006).
- “Reviving Islamic Universalism: East/s, West/s, and Coexistence,” in Abdul Aziz SaidAbdul Aziz SaidAbdul Aziz Said a Syrian-born writer and senior ranking professor of international relations in the School of International Service at American University where he has taught for fifty four years...
and Meena Sharify-Funk (eds.), Contemporary Islam: Dynamic, not Static (Routledge, 2006).
- “Globalizing Equality: Muslim Women, Theology, and Feminisms,” in Fera Simone (ed.), On Shifting Ground: Muslim Women in the Global Era (NY: Feminist Press, 2005).
- Islam, Muslims, and the U.S.: Essays on Religion and Politics (India, Global Media Publications, 2004)
- “Amina WadudAmina WadudAmina Wadud is an American scholar of Islam with a progressive focus on Qur'an exegesis . As an Islamic feminist, she has addressed mixed-sex congregations, giving a sermon in South Africa in 1994, and leading Friday prayers in the United States in 2005...
’s Hermeneutics of the Qur’an: Women Rereading Sacred Texts,” in Suha Taji-Faruqi (ed.), Contemporary Muslim Intellectuals and the Quran: Modernist and Post Modernist Approaches (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
- "Believing Women" in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an (University of Texas Press, 2002).
- Democracy, Nationalism, and Communalism: The Colonial Legacy in South Asia (Westview Press, 1995)
External links
- Bio of Asma Barlas
- Ithaca College Faculty: Asma Barlas
- Personal website
- Islam, Feminism and Living as the ‘Muslim Other’: An Interview with Asma Barlas
- "It Is the Right for Every Muslim to Interpret the Quran for Themselves" (Interview)
- Only Muslims can change their society Article in Guardian, August, 2009
- Islam and feminism Article in the newstatesman, April, 2009
- Interview: “The Qur’an Doesn’t Support Patriarchy” Interview by Naufil Shahrukh, published in ABC, The Nation, Pakistan, February 2005
- Towards a feminist view of Islam