Reviews for Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures, Volume 4: Economics, Education, Mobility and Space

The average rating for Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures, Volume 4: Economics, Education, Mobility and Space based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-06-29 00:00:00 Raymond Kudick There is a tendency (intentionally on the part of Muslims as well as non-Muslim writers) to portray the Islamic position on ethics and law in a "monolithic" manner, where there are standard answers to all aspects of modern life derived from the same authoritative sources of the Qur'an and prophetic sunna. Atieghetchi's book explores the nuanced perspectives of different currents of Islamic thought and their answers to bioethical conundrums of modern life, such as regarding family planning, abortion, and genetics research. The book examines the relevant scriptural passages that guide interpretations of the issues, the positions of different schools and their methodologies, and also surveys the legislative laws on the issue across Muslim countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. In addition to referring to the particular scriptural texts that address the issues, Atieghetchi also discusses some of the broad principles that guide Islamic law and bioethics, among them the concept of maslaha - the idea that decisions should increase the welfare of the Muslim community, and the injunctions to do no harm. Such ideas have utilitarian roots, and their authority in relation to the literal texts leads to the different conclusions draw by different schools, thus the tensions between different principles inform the legal conclusions, even though they draw from the same sources within Islam. For a number of ethical issues such as abortion, the permissibility of the act is hinged on two elements: the scriptural (whether the fetus has reached the ensoulement stage, with debates based on the religious texts regarding the time window for that stage); and on the intent of the act, which can determine whether the particular abortion is forbidden, reprehensible or permitted in certain contexts, such as as the consequence of adultery, fornication, or rape). Today, most Muslim countries have legislations that adopted a particular position on the issue. While this development overrode the traditional pluralism of opinions, the differences between individual countries reflect this tradition of interpretive diversity allowed within Islamic law. The book is extensively researched and deals with an extremely interesting topic. While I wouldn't foist this on anyone (as I typically do with my 5 star books), I think this is a very worthwhile read for anyone interested in how Islamic law and ethics deal with controversial medical and scientific issues that the Western world is still grappling with.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-09-05 00:00:00 Leticia Perez This is an extremely readable and engaging account of the various ways in which Muslims have understood the Qur'an's treatment of the historical event of the crucifixion (be it of Jesus or someone else.) he makes a very convincing case that the idea that someone was substituted for Jesus on the cross need not have any basis in the text, but I feel he could go much further in exploring the "why's" because a physical crucifixion of Jesus need not lead to atonement theology. As a Muslim I found the various perspectives presented throughout history (especially before the 14th) absolutely fascinating.