Personal tools
You are here: Home → Arabic and Middle East Studies → Women in Islamic Societies → Barlas Discussion Questions I

Barlas Discussion Questions I

Document Actions
  • Send this
  • Print this
  • Content View
  • Bookmarks

While reading the first half of Barlas' "Believing Women" in Islam, keep the following questions in mind.

 

1) What are some of the challenges inherent in reading the Qur’anic text (or any other sacred text)?  Pp. 32-37 

 

2) What is Tafsir?  What are some of the problems identified by Barlas which result from relying primarily on tafsir to understand the Qur’anic text?  Pp. 38-42

 

3) How are some of these problems compounded by the hadith literature?  Pp. 42 - top of pg. 50

 

4) How do conservative theories mask the true meanings of the text by generalizing the particular?  Pp. 50-58

 

5) How do critical readings of the Qur’an, which historicize the particular, yield a different understanding of the text and its function in different circumstances?  Pp. 58-62

 

6) What became the relation of the Sunna to the Qur’an and how did that affect interpretations of the Qur’an?  Pp. 64-76

 

7) How did the state affect the creation of knowledge?  Pp. 81-89

 

Copyright 2008, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. mboomer. (2007, May 06). Barlas Discussion Questions I . Retrieved January 09, 2009, from Notre Dame OpenCourseWare Web site: http://ocw.nd.edu/arabic-and-middle-east-studies/women-in-islamic-societies/barlas-study-questions-i. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Creative Commons License
Reuse Course
Download this course