Zainab Alwani

Last updated
Zainab Alwani
Born1962
Baghdad, Iraq
NationalityIraqi-American
Alma materInternational Islamic University Malaysia
OccupationIslamic scholar
Known forFirst woman to serve on Fiqh Council of North America
ParentTaha Jabir Alawani
RelativesRuqaia Al-Alwani

Zainab Alwani is an American activist and Islamic scholar. She is Founding Director and Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Howard University School of Divinity. [1]

Contents

Biography

Zainab Alwani was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1962. [2] [3] She is the daughter of Taha Jabir Alalwani. [4] Alwani and her family were forced to flee Iraq when she was 7. The family went to Egypt and later Saudi Arabia. [3]

As a young woman, Alwani studied at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University. [5] [3] She received her PhD in Islamic jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh) from the International Islamic University in Malaysia. [6] [5] Alwani is also the first female jurist to sit on the board of the Fiqh Council of North America. [7] [2] [6] [8]

Alwani is an activist for the rights of Muslim women and children. [2] She is active in continuing her father's thought and approach to minority fiqh. [9] She specializes in Islamic jurisprudence, Quranic studies, the relationship between Islamic and civil law, and women and the family in Islam. [1] [3] [9] Her sister is the Islamic scholar Ruqaia Al-Alwani. [10] Hadia Mubarak identifies Zainab and Ruqaia as part of a growing body of female Muslim Qur'anic commentators. [11]

Publications

Books

Articles

Related Research Articles

Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is often described as the human understanding and practices of the sharia, that is human understanding of the divine Islamic law as revealed in the Quran and the sunnah. Fiqh expands and develops Shariah through interpretation (ijtihad) of the Quran and Sunnah by Islamic jurists (ulama) and is implemented by the rulings (fatwa) of jurists on questions presented to them. Thus, whereas sharia is considered immutable and infallible by Muslims, fiqh is considered fallible and changeable. Fiqh deals with the observance of rituals, morals and social legislation in Islam as well as economic and political system. In the modern era, there are four prominent schools (madh'hab) of fiqh within Sunni practice, plus two within Shi'a practice. A person trained in fiqh is known as a faqīh.

In Islam, sunnah, also spelled sunna, are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed on to the next generations. According to classical Islamic theories, the sunnah are documented by hadith, and alongside the Quran are the divine revelation (wahy) delivered through Muhammad that make up the primary sources of Islamic law and belief/theology. Differing from Sunni classical Islamic theories are those of Shia Muslims, who hold that Imams interpret the sunnah, and Sufi who hold that Muhammad transmitted the values of sunnah "through a series of Sufi teachers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quran</span> Foundational Islamic religious text

The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters, which consist of verses. In addition to its religious significance, it is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature, and has significantly influenced the Arabic language.

Ijtihad is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with taqlid. According to classical Sunni theory, ijtihad requires expertise in the Arabic language, theology, revealed texts, and principles of jurisprudence, and is not employed where authentic and authoritative texts are considered unambiguous with regard to the question, or where there is an existing scholarly consensus (ijma). Ijtihad is considered to be a religious duty for those qualified to perform it. An Islamic scholar who is qualified to perform ijtihad is called as a "mujtahid".

Ijmāʿ is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard ijmā' as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur'an, and the Sunnah. Exactly what group should represent the Muslim community in reaching the consensus is not agreed on by the various schools of Islamic jurisprudence. Some believe it should be the Sahaba only; others the consensus of the Salaf ; or the consensus of Islamic lawyers, the jurists and scholars of the Muslim world, i.e. scholarly consensus; or the consensus of all the Muslim world, both scholars and lay people. The opposite of ijma is called ikhtilaf.

Liberalism and progressivism within Islam involve professed Muslims who have created a considerable body of progressive thought about Islamic understanding and practice. Their work is sometimes characterized as "progressive Islam". Some scholars, such as Omid Safi, differentiate between "Progressive Muslims" and "Liberal advocates of Islam".

Abū al-Fiḍā’ ‘Imād ad-Dīn Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Qurashī al-Damishqī, known as Ibn Kathīr, was a highly influential Arab historian, exegete and scholar during the Mamluk era in Syria. An expert on tafsir and fiqh (jurisprudence), he wrote several books, including a fourteen-volume universal history titled Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Companions of the Prophet</span> Close friends/disciples of the Islamic prophet Muhammad

The Companions of the Prophet were the disciples and followers of Muhammad who saw or met him during his lifetime, while being a Muslim and were physically in his presence. "Al-ṣaḥāba" is definite plural; the indefinite singular is masculine صَحَابِيٌّ, feminine صَحَابِيَّةٌ.

Naskh is an Arabic word usually translated as "abrogation". In tafsir, or Islamic legal exegesis, naskh recognizes that one rule might not always be suitable for every situation. In the widely recognized and "classic" form of naskh, one ḥukm "ruling" is abrogated to introduce an exception to the general rule, but the text the ḥukm is based on is not repealed.

ʾUṣūl al-fiqh or Principles of Islamic jurisprudence are traditional methodological principles used in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) for deriving the rulings of Islamic law (sharia).

Rajm in Islam refers to the Hudud punishment wherein an organized group throws stones at a convicted individual until that person dies. Under some versions of Islamic law (Sharia), it is the prescribed punishment in cases of adultery committed by a married person which requires either a confession from either the adulterer or adulteress, or producing four witnesses of sexual penetration.

The Fiqh Council of North America is an association of Muslims who interpret Islamic law on the North American continent. The FCNA was founded in 1986 with the goal of developing legal methodologies for adopting Islamic law to life in the West.

Qur'anic hermeneutics is the study of theories of the interpretation and understanding of the Qur'an, the central text of Islam. Since the early centuries of Islam, scholars have sought to mine the wealth of its meanings by developing a variety of different methods of hermeneutics. Many of the traditional methods of interpretation are currently being challenged with a more modern or contemporary approach. The three primarily established typologies of tafsir are tradition (Sunni), opinion (Shi'i), and allegory (Sufi). The two main types of verses to be interpreted are Muhukmat and Mutishabihat. The traditional approach to hermeneutics within the Qur'an embodies an awareness of isnad. There are many challenges of addressing modern day human rights, women and minority groups through the traditional hermeneutical model.

Various sources of Islamic Laws are used by Islamic jurisprudence to elaborate the body of Islamic law. In Sunni Islam, the scriptural sources of traditional jurisprudence are the Holy Qur'an, believed by Muslims to be the direct and unaltered word of God, and the Sunnah, consisting of words and actions attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the hadith literature. In Shi'ite jurisprudence, the notion of Sunnah is extended to include traditions of the Imams.

Maria Ulfah is an Indonesian qāriʾah and manager of the Central Institute for the Development of Quranic Recitation. She is the winner of two Indonesian national Qur'an recitation contests and is internationally recognized as one of the world's master reciters and teachers of recitation. She is also a lecturer at the Institute for the Study of Qur'an and at the National Islamic University in Indonesia, as well as the first woman to win an international Qur'an recitation award in Malaysia in 1980. She's considered an internationally significant figure in the field, and has been referred to as Southeast Asia's premier female reciter of the Qur'an.

Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Musa ibn al-Abbas ibn Mujahid al-Atashi was an Islamic scholar most notable for establishing and delineating the seven canonical Quranic readings (qira'at) in his work Kitāb al-sabʿa fī l-qirāʾāt. He was also notable for delivering the charge of heretical Quranic exegesis that reopened the trial of Mansur al-Hallaj, which ultimately led to his execution on the orders of the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir.

Wahbah Mustafa al-Zuhayli born in Dair Atiah, Syria was a Syrian professor and Islamic scholar specializing in Islamic law and legal philosophy. He was also a preacher at Badr Mosque in Dair Atiah. He was the author of scores of books on Islamic and secular law, many of which have been translated to English. He was chairman of Islamic jurisprudence in the College of Sharia at Damascus University, and a signatory to the Amman Message and A Common Word documents.

The use of politically and religiously-motivated violence dates back to the early history of Islam. Islam has its origins in the behavior, sayings, and rulings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his companions, and the first caliphs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries CE. Mainstream Islamic law stipulates detailed regulations for the use of violence, including corporal and capital punishment, as well as regulations on how, when, and whom to wage war against.

The Shafi'i school, or Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by Muslim theologian Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī, "the father of Muslim jurisprudence", in the early 9th century.

References

  1. 1 2 "People Profile |". profiles.howard.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  2. 1 2 3 Callahan, Sharon Henderson (2013-06-20). Religious Leadership. SAGE. ISBN   978-1-4129-9908-3.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Shahid, Omar. "Scholar Spotlight: Dr. Zainab Alwani, Reclaiming Gender Equality in Islamic Scholarship: This prominent American scholar, academic and activist often finds herself to be the only Muslim female scholar on stage at conferences". Campus Watch. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  4. Alwani, Zainab (2020). "From Baghdad to Leesburg". In Jones, Richard J. (ed.). From Baghdad to Leesburg: A Leader of al-Ta'āruf. The Al-Alwani Muslim-Christian Lectures 2010-2017. International Institute of Islamic Thought. pp. 1–9. doi:10.2307/j.ctv19prr4t.5. ISBN   978-1-56564-955-2. JSTOR   j.ctv19prr4t.5. S2CID   229533034 . Retrieved 2021-12-17.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. 1 2 "Zainab Al-Alwani". About Islam. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  6. 1 2 Yakar, Emine Enise (2021-09-30). Islamic Law and Society: The Practice Of Iftā' And Religious Institutions. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-000-45637-0.
  7. "Dr. Zainab Alwani | WISE Muslim Women Zainab Alwani". WISE Muslim Women. 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  8. Azid, Toseef; Ward-batts, Jennifer L. (2020-06-22). Economic Empowerment Of Women In The Islamic World: Theory And Practice. World Scientific. ISBN   978-981-12-1216-1.
  9. 1 2 Albrecht, Sarah (2018-04-24). Dār al-Islām Revisited: Territoriality in Contemporary Islamic Legal Discourse on Muslims in the West. BRILL. ISBN   978-90-04-36457-8.
  10. "Dr. Ruqaia Al-Alwani | CILE - Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics". admin.cilecenter.org. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  11. Mubarak, Hadia (2022-04-15). Rebellious Wives, Neglectful Husbands: Controversies in Modern Qur'anic Commentaries. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-755332-9.
  12. Abugideiri, Salma; Alwani, Zainab (2008). What Islam Says about Domestic Violence: A Guide for Helping Muslim Families. Foundation for Appropriate and Immediate Temporary Help.