Barlas Discussion Questions I

Discussion Questions for the first half of Barlas' "Believing Women" in Islam:

  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

 

Citation: Afsaruddin, A. (2007, May 06). Barlas Discussion Questions I . Retrieved November 23, 2009, from Notre Dame OpenCourseWare Web site: http://ocw.nd.edu/arabic-and-middle-east-studies/women-in-islamic-societies/lecture-and-study-materials/barlas-discussion-questions-i.
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