A book about thoughtful Shiite women launched at Princeton University / Women as religious authorities / Review of the collection of articles ‘Religious Authority of Women in Shiite Islam’

Group Thought: Perhaps this short report should have been published yesterday, on the occasion of the birthday of Hazrat Fatimah Zahra (peace be upon her). Dr. Miriam Künkler, a researcher at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, provides a brief report on the compilation of a book that stemmed from her encounter with the interpretative works of the female mujtahidah Nusrat Amin in the Princeton University library. Künkler’s book, published in 2014, is the result of the international conference “ʿĀlimāt, Muḥaddithāt, and Mujtahidāt: Past and Present of Women’s Religious Authority in Shiite Islam.” Although it must be said that this book would undoubtedly have become stronger by addressing Hazrat Zaynab (S.A.), as the most powerful female messenger in the movement of Karbala. Nevertheless, this book is composed of various articles by university professors focused on studying thoughtful women in the Islamic world.

Miriam Künkler explains the motivation for compiling her book: “Allow me to start by telling you a little about how I came to this topic of ‘Women as Religious Authorities.'” She continues: “Years ago, I was preparing a class on the Quran for my students, and I was flipping through Michael Cook’s ‘A Short Introduction to the Qur’an.’ He mentions very briefly that a complete interpretation of the Quran exists, written by a woman, Nusrat Amin from Iran.”

Female Mujtahidah Nusrat Amin

She adds: “I paused. I had worked on Iran for years, conducted my field research there, and perhaps seen references to her, but I hadn’t really realized that she had written a complete interpretation. So I searched the catalog of the Princeton University library, and to my surprise, the interpretation really was there. I went to the library to consult it. The library had several editions (prints) of it. Three editions (prints) had been published, or rather, up to that point, which was the late 2000s, had been published. I realized that of these three editions, two had never been checked out. And of the third edition, only the first volume of the 15-volume set had ever left the library.”

Regarding the academic neglect of Nusrat Amin’s works, she continues: “So, 14 volumes of all editions had never left the library. And this really made me think… why, why did such a prominent person apparently exist who wrote a complete interpretation, and her role was truly not recognized in sources and writings at all. This led me to write an article with my colleague Roya Fazael, and that chapter about Nusrat Amin has been published here in the compiled book collection. Of course, seeing that finally, a dissertation was actually dedicated to this lady and her works was wonderful.”

As mentioned, this encounter with Miriam Künkler was interesting enough for her that it ultimately led to the compilation of the collection of articles “Religious Authority (Authority, Power) of Women in Shiite Islam; Past and Present,” co-edited by Miriam Künkler (Researcher at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study) and Devin Stewart (Researcher at the Department of Near Eastern Studies). Finally, the introduction of this book, done by Ms. “Mina Salehi,” is as follows:

Book Introduction

The current book is a collection of selected articles from the international conference “ʿĀlimāt, Muḥaddithāt, and Mujtahidāt: Past and Present of Women’s Religious Authority in Shiite Islam,” held on March 6-8, 2014, at Princeton University. The initial idea for writing the book emerged from Miriam Künkler’s experience; when she accidentally discovered that a complete Quran interpretation existed, whose author was an Iranian lady named Nusrat Amin, but whose name and interpretation book were very neglected and overlooked…

Künkler and Stewart have collected a set of articles in this book that represent examples of power, religious authority, influence, and social impact of Shiite women in the time frame from early Islam to the modern era in Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The goal of collecting articles and writing this book was to examine research developments in the field of women’s studies in Islam and address the activities of women who have been lost in the pages of history and whose names have been overlooked and neglected in male and patriarchal historiographical processes.

Dr. Miriam Künkler

The articles in this book address examples of women with authority and power in Shiism, such as women from the Prophet’s family and Ahl al-Bayt, slave girls who grew up and were educated in the homes of the Imams, as well as women from the royal family during the Safavid era in Iran. The authors’ attempt has been to show that despite the common assumption of male-centric religious power and authority in Islam, Shiite Muslim women have played prominent and key roles in shaping Islamic scholarly tradition throughout various historical periods.

Through historical and comparative studies, the authors of these articles have examined the lives and professional paths of these women as muhaddith (narrator of hadith), faqih (jurisprudent), mutakallim (theologian), qadi (judge), Quran teacher, religious leader, and representative or agent of male jurists, and have analyzed how they participated socially and influenced the religious community. This book is a valuable reference for researchers in Islamic studies, gender and Shiism studies, and women’s rights in Islam, and provides opportunities for comparative analysis between women’s religious authority in Shiite and Sunni Islamic societies.

Authors’ Introduction

Miriam Künkler (https://mirjamkuenkler.com/) is a researcher at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study. Previously, she taught “Near Eastern Studies” at Princeton University. Her articles have been published in prestigious journals such as the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women, and the Asian Studies Review. She has also authored books such as “The Secular Age beyond the West” (2018).

Devin Stewart holds a Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. His extensive research focuses on Shiite Islam and the Quran, jurisprudence, taqiyya in Islam, debates between Sunnis and Shiites, and other topics in Arabic and Islamic studies. He was a speaker at the fifth Inekas Summer School (https://t.me/inekas/587) and is the author of “Law and Society in Islam” (1996), “Legal Orthodoxy” (1998), and “Differences among Jurists” (2015).

List of Articles in the Book and Authors’ Names

1. Introduction: Women’s Religious Power in Shiite Islam; Past and Present, Miriam Künkler and Devin Stewart.
2. The Forgotten History of Women’s Religious Power in Islam, Miriam Künkler.
3. Umm Salama; An Example of a Woman’s Authority and Power that Gives Legitimacy to Power, Yasmin Amin.
4. Heir of the Prophet; Fatima’s Sermon (S.A.) as the First Example of Women’s Religious Authority and Power in Islam, Alisa Gabay.
5. Women’s Religious Power during the Shiite Imams, Liyaqat Takim.
6. That Woman Should Not Raise Her Voice Among Men; Imami Jurisprudence Debates Against (and For) Women’s Judgment, Robert Gleave.
7. The Debate of Hasaniya in Harun al-Rashid’s Court; Sectarian Conflicts and Women’s Religious Power, Devin Stewart.
8. Laila, Queen of Heaven, by [Henri] Mohammadi Haravi, Michael Barry.
9. Daughters of Kings, Guardianship and Knowledge Production in the Safavid Era in Iran, Yusuf Unal.
10. The Lives of Two Female Mujtahids; Women’s Religious Power in 20th Century Iran, Miriam Künkler and Roya Fazael.
11. The Other Half of the Mission; Amina Bint al-Huda as the Agent and Representative of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, Raphael Mauriello.
12. Female Scholars [in the region of] Sayyida Zaynab [or Zaynabiyah in the suburbs of Damascus]; Shiite Women’s Religious Power in the Syrian Seminary, Edith Santo.
13. Women’s Seminaries in Iran; A Diverse System Despite Government Efforts for Unification and Standardization, Maryam Routner.