RT Article
T1 Friendships, Fidelities and Sufi Imaginaries: Theorizing Islamic Feminism
JF Religions
VO 14
IS 9
A1 Shaikh, Saʿdiyya
LA English
PB MDPI
YR 2023
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1857649176
AB This article theorizes Islamic feminism as a form of ‘friendship with/in tradition’, drawing creatively on Sufism. It unpacks these feminist friendships as forms of ‘radical, critical fidelity’ which includes commitments and loyalties to tradition while simultaneously engaging critically with sexism, patriarchy, and homophobia. Core epistemological and ethical concerns are explored, including the nature of relationships to tradition; analytical methods for engaging with Muslim tradition from a gendered lens; religious authority and authoritarianism; and most significantly, engaging with emancipatory horizons of imagination that are attentive to the contemporary axes of power and privilege. The paper turns to rethinking approaches to hierarchy and possibilities for abuse, focusing on the shaykh–murīd and broader teacher–student relationships. It presents a nuanced approach to engaging with hierarchies as a serious analytical category that requires attention. Positing fluidity, transparency, and accountability as central to cultivating responsible hierarchical practices, the article suggests that friendship as a modality of relationships can contribute to such positive transformations. This article, emerging from a project on Muslim feminist ethics, presents creative theorizations of Islamic feminism as a liberatory project of human and divine friendships, inspired by Sufi ideas of walāya.
K1 Racism
K1 Intersectionality
K1 Homophobia
K1 Sexism
K1 awliyā
K1 Hierarchy
K1 Feminist ethics
K1 Grooming
K1 spiritual abuse
K1 Friendship
K1 walāya
K1 Sufism
K1 Gender
K1 Islamic Feminism
DO 10.3390/rel14091082