Riada talks to Asma Barlas on "Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an"

Dignified Resilience with Riada Akyol

I can not describe to you how meaningful this conversation was for me! Professor Asma Barlas is an intellectual giant in her field, and someone who has, during six years since I've met her, always offered continuous encouragement and teaching in the most supportive ways! In this podcast episode, we talked about many topics that she addresses in her bestselling book "Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur’an." For example, we talked about women’s inequality and if it is supported by the Qur’an - holy book for Muslims. We talked about whether men have the exclusive right to interpret Islam’s holy scripture? The answer is no! You'd have to hear the whole episode and read her book to learn more on how she argues the radically egalitarian and antipatriarchal nature of Qur'an's teachings. Additionally, we talked about many kinds of feminism(s), touched upon identity politics, and criticized some unfortunate past and present patterns among many Muslims. Asma Abla (meaning "older sister" in Turkish, as as she tells me to call her endearingly) shared both authoritatively and graciously her observations on necessity of "double critique" of injustices - when committed against or by Muslims, respectively, and offered messages of hope for some brighter future visions. Many of us feel indebted to her and other similar scholars of her generation for their work, so this opportunity to thank her for that, and honor her publicly so it remains in the digital history, truly meant the world to me. This was an incredibly powerful conversation that I will never forget. I hope that, regardless of whether you are Muslim or non-Muslim, you shall also enjoy or appreciate the wealth of intellectual information offered here as just a start of your own further exploration. I hope you also manage to witness a beautiful human connection between two Muslim women who care about many same things. Buy her book too! Asma Barlas joined the Politics department of Ithaca College in 1991 and retired in August 2020. For a long time, she served as the founding director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity (1999- 2002; 2006-15). Her career path began in 1976 in Pakistan's Foreign Service, from which she was later fired at the behest of the country's military ruler, Gen. Zia ul Haq, for criticizing him. She left for the U.S., where she received political asylum. She is a very prolific poet, writer and academic. Her bestselling book "Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an" contests interpretations of Islam’s scripture that sanction violence and discrimination against women in addition to proposing a liberatory hermeneutics.