Olin Chats in the Stacks Book Talk: Woman’s Identity and the Reformation of Muslim Societies, 2016-10-05

The Prophet Muhammad’s reported traditions have evolved significantly to affect the social, cultural, and political lives of all Muslims. Though centuries of scholarship were spent on the authentication and trustworthiness of the narrators, there has been less study focused on the contents of these narratives, known as Hadith or Sunnah, and their corroboration by the Qur`an. Nimat Hafez Barazangi, research fellow in the Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program at Cornell University, discusses her new book Women’s Identity and Rethinking the Hadith (Routledge; November 2015), a passionate plea for Muslim women to reclaim the egalitarian message of their faith and their identity to Islam. The book is a first step in a comprehensive attempt to contrast Hadith with the Qur`an in order to uncover some of the unjust practices by Muslims concerning women and gender issues. This event was sponsored by Olin Library, part of the Chats in the Stacks book talk series.