Sexual Ethics and Islam

February 22, 2016
In this important revised edition of Ali's major treatise on a feminist approach to Islam, she offers a broad and comprehensive view of how sexual ethics have been defined in Islam throughout history, and how those understandings inform and define Islam today. There has long been a tension between religion and sexuality, Ali argues, with societies defining both norms and taboos within their communities. In the west, Islam has been viewed as a religion that limits the rights of women, in some regions influencing laws that forbid them to drive or to vote. Chapters place marriage, divorce, sexual activity, same-sex relationships, and female circumcision in historical perspective, helping readers to understand today's Islamic attitudes and mores. The chapter on the Prophet Muhammed's marriage to a very young girl really brings to forefront the importance of viewing events in the light of their cultural and historical context. Each chapter ends with a coda that brings her earlier text up to date. This is a significant addition the feminist understanding of Islam and its complex views of sexuality.