Speaking in God's Name: Islamic Law, Authority and Women

by Khaled Abou El Fadl

This challenging new book reviews the ethics at the heart of the Islamic legal system, and suggests that these laws have been misinterpreted by certain sources in an attempt to control women.

Genres: Islam, Religion, Nonfiction, Law, Gender, Spirituality, Womens

384 pages, Paperback

First published December 25, 2001

About the author

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl is the most important and influential Islamic thinker in the modern age. An accomplished Islamic jurist and scholar, he is Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law where he teaches Islamic law, Immigration, Human Rights, International and National Security Law. Dr. Abou El Fadl previously taught Islamic law at the University of Texas at Austin Law School, Yale Law School, and Princeton University. He holds degrees from Yale University (B.A.), University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D.) and Princeton University (M.A./Ph.D.).

A high-ranking shaykh, Dr. Abou El Fadl also received formal training in Islamic jurisprudence in Egypt and Kuwait.

Dr. Abou El Fadl is a world-renowned expert in Islamic law and an American lawyer, offering a unique and seasoned perspective on the current state of Islam and the West. He is a strong proponent of human rights and is the 2007 recipient of the University of Oslo Human Rights Award, the Lisl and Leo Eitinger Prize. He was also named a Carnegie Scholar in Islam for 2005. He serves on the Advisory Board of Middle East Watch and was previously on the Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch. He was also previously appointed by President George W. Bush as a commissioner on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. He regularly provides expert testimony in a wide variety of cases ranging from human rights and political asylum to terrorism, national security, and international and commercial law.

Dr. Abou El Fadl is a prolific author and prominent public intellectual on Islamic law and Islam, most noted for his scholarly approach to Islam from a moral point of view. He writes extensively on universal themes of morality and humanity, and the notion of beauty as a moral value. Dr. Abou El Fadl is a staunch advocate and defender of women's rights and focuses much of his written attention on issues related to women. As the most critical and powerful voice against puritan and Wahhabi Islam today, he regularly appears on national and international television and radio including CNN, NBC, PBS, NPR, and Voice of America (broadcast throughout the Middle East). His most recent work focuses on issues of authority, terrorism, tolerance, Islam and Islamic law.

He is the author of ten books and over fifty articles on Islamic law and Islam. His recent books include: The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books (Rowman and Littlefield, 2006); The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005); Islam and the Challenge of Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2004); The Place of Tolerance in Islam (Beacon Press, 2002); Conference of the Books: The Search for Beauty in Islam (University Press of America/Rowman and Littlefield, 2001); And God Knows the Soldiers: The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses (UPA/Rowman and Littlefield, 2001); Speaking in God's Name: Islamic law, Authority and Women (Oneworld Press, Oxford, 2001) and Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law (Cambridge University Press, 2001).

Reviews

[Sarah Lameche · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fabulous books! As a revert/convert to Islam I never follow anything blindly. I do my own research and find out the reasons why I have to do something. Where Ahadeeth are concerned I certainly do not believe they are all right. After all Allah has told us only the Quran has never and will never be change. However this opinion is often unshared by my fellow Muslims. If anything I am looked upon with disdain and more often than not told that its only the really authentic ones that we follow.
I disagree. If something is not logical to me,I need to know why we do it.
This book basically takes all my thoughts on the matter and puts them into a much more in depth and intellectual manner. Actually this book is so much more than my feeble thoughts.It is how I wish I could express myself when the topic comes up.
I really recommend this book. It is not the easiest of reads (the good books rarely are) but its perfectly understandable.

[Sara Salem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important intervention against the dominance of male-centric interpretations of the Islamic legal system.

[Asma]

(((I have not finished the book in its entirety, I have been reading chapters here and there but Goodreads won't let me post an update longer than 420 characters so here's a mini review, or extended progress update depending on how you want to see it)))

Abou El-Fadl is putting my exact thoughts into words with clear and concise arguments.

Whenever I speak up about anything, or any "Islamic ruling" that seems illogical to me it seems like there's no room for discussion, it is what it is, even if it's a really weak hadith (or no hadith at all, just a very patriarchal view or opinion of a scholar; sometimes even opposition of many early Muslims to the new social structure Islam brought in). Abou El-Fadhl brushed on the discrepancies between some of the Prophet's actions and some of the Hadith's attributed to him and things we experience day to day that are perceived generally to be Islamic teachings. What interested me was some information about the companions (or ruwat al-hadith) and their behavior, general attitudes towards each other(many narrations said they did not trust Abu Huraira), how many of their Hadith's were not taken vs the ones we do accept.

I do not think I have the same verbal ability to be able to explain everything myself, or I would be paraphrasing everything the author detailed in the book. I urge you to read chapter 7 for yourselves, you will be both annoyed (I cried at one point thinking something extremely misogynistic was an actual Hadith) and relieved.

I will take the time to reread some parts so I am more confident in speaking about it next time someone shuts me down with a Hadith that they aren't sure of. Every single Muslim is obliged to search for what is right and what God's will is. I still remember hearing many scary Hadiths as a child that only recently I know to be Mawdu'ah or weak. Wish they taught us that as children.

There's one part that I really want to share about the logic some put behind excluding women from public life with brilliant arguments against it both from a logical standpoint and with Hadiths but it is a whole section in the chapter that I cannot do justice by summarizing into one paragraph.

[Asim Bakhshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book has been placed on my shelf for an year or so and I now feel sorry for not reading it before. I believe it should be among the modern classics of Islamic studies among Hodgson, Bennabi and Fazlur Rahman. The strength of the book is two dimensional, i.e., the amount of research Abou El Fadl has put in as well as the lucidity of expression with which such a complex subject of religion and authority has been tackled with. In a way, Abou El Fadl has tried to supply answers to most of the questions he asked in Conference of the Books and in my opinion, he is successful; at the same time, he has also raised some new questions regarding intricacies of interpretation. I believe the book is among the pioneers to take the field of Islamic Law from the domain of religious studies to the domain of law proper.

[Ay]

this tome is weightier than his later book The Great Theft, but i still like what he has to say and the wealth of information and detail he offers his readers without being too verbose and overwhelming. i would like to meet this man someday, i highly value his rational thoughts and approach. he's like a breath of fresh air...

[Ashfaq Farooqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

A much-needed discussion on Authority and Authoritarian within Islamic Law. In this, rather dense, book, the author deconstructs the authoritarian nature that has seeped into the modern discourses on Islamic Law. Drawing from the vast resource of jurisprudential debates of the past, he presents the methodological requirements that need to be fulfilled when delving into the legalities of and developing, legislation from Islamic sources. Throughout the book, the authoritarian nature of Islamic law that has had a devastating impact on women--mainly in the modern world-- is taken as a case study to bring out the differences between authority and authoritarian.


Though this is a very dense book and a tough read for the uninitiated to Islamic law, I think it is a must-read for anyone who wants to critique, and also improve the Islamic Jurisprudence. It is, however, recommended to start with the author's other books Reasoning with God: Reclaiming Shari'ah in the Modern Age and Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books before picking this one.

[Dillon Tatum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a rather intimidating work by a well noted Islamic Legal Scholar at UCLA law school. It is essentially a book that challenges the authoritarianism that has ruled Islamic law for centuries, often depriving groups such as women of rights. It is a polemic piece, and attempts to be a text of legal theory. It is very well-done, and is accessible to the lay reader.

[Sadaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ridiculously good, rattled my cage in a good way =)

[Raheel]

Wonderful book about women and Hadith

[Hakim]

good.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Muslim should read this book.

[Ayman Ashour · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a phenomenal book that presents the intersection of knowledge from three dimensions that rarely come together when addressing Islam. Khaled Abu el Fadel masterpiece, Speaking in the Name of God, builds on his deep knowledge of traditional Islamic jurisprudence, western thought on divergent topics such as philosophy, anthropology and linguistics and finally scientific research methods.

In this book Abu el Fadel sets about discussing basic fundamentals about the basic text of the Quran, he argues persuasively that the actual text of the Quran is authoritative whereas its interpretations are not necessarily so. Abu el Fadel proceeds to cover the concept of "agency" and the responsibilities that must be assumed by anyone who claims to interpret Islam and produce responsa or "fetwa". A tour de force of traditional Islamic Jurisprudence is presented setting the rules of how a fetwa can be reached, rules of evidence, weighing of multiple or contradictory indications, method of reasoning and ultimately presentation of results or fetwa.

Sharia Law as presented by Abu el Fadel is a far more nuanced and complex legal code than how it is commonly interpreted today in both the West and the Muslim World. A number of examples of Law from Saudi Arabia are presented in particular in relation to the restrictions imposed on women. Abu el Fadel presents the official Saudi Islamic rulings and sets about dissecting them in great detail and examining them under the microscope of traditional Islamic jurisprudence with its restrain and tremendous care not to usurp the intent of God and force one's own will on Islam.

Abu el Fadel goes to the root of some of the "Hadith", Prophet Mohammad sayings, that have been used over the years to limit the role of women in Islam. Abu el Fadel presents through very detailed analysis of history and Islamic Jurisprudence different versions of a specific Hadith that mandates duty of obedience on women towards their husbands very strong evidence that this commonly accepted Hadith is indeed fake. Abu el Fadel also presents the motives that could lay behind the number of fake Hadith's specially in relation to the split between Sunni and Shiite Islam. Consistent with his basic thesis Abu el Fadel presentations and conclusions are reached through very rigorous examination of all evidence, weighing of the evidence, balancing of the various factors in accordance with the established rules of Islamic Jurisprudence.

Khaled Abu el Fadel's modesty and "scientific humility" comes across in his restrain in drawing conclusions and in his constant attempts at presenting counter arguments to his own conclusions, and in his tentative approach towards building up his own conclusions. Abu el Fadel displays a tremendous example of what non authoritarian behavior is all about through his care not to fall into the common trap that is literally the standard approach to Islam today.

One day, perhaps centuries from now, this work may prove instrumental in recapturing the essence of Islam.

[Sasha Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Khaled Abou El Fadl aims to contribute to the development of a systematic critical discourse on Islamic law, using some of the insights of Western hermeneutics. He is aware that this is a problematic enterprise, but views it as a corrective through which the Islamic juristic tradition may be able to recover some of its earlier pluralism in place of the authoritarian tendencies he sees in contemporary determinations by Muslim jurists. He attributes these tendencies largely to the effects of modernism as transmitted to the Middle East through colonialism and other contacts with the West (similar observations have been made by other scholars about the connection between modernism and Christian Biblical fundamentalism).

After an introduction setting out his purpose, Abou El Fadl provides a very readable general introduction to hermeneutics before going on to apply it to Islamic jurisprudence (using Saudi fatwas on the status and rights of women as examples). He is insistent that in order to prevent authoritarian readings, it is essential that the author, the text and the reader are all seen as contributing to meaning and none is allowed to exclude the others. I was particularly struck by his insistence that the author must not be taken as the sole authority on meaning even if that author is believed to be the Divine.

In the chapters applying hermeneutics to Islamic jurisprudence, as well as demonstrating the legal pluralism of the earlier Islamic tradition and outlining its decline, he also traces the effects of socially reactionary forces in Medina which led to early attempts to retreat from some of the Prophet's more inclusive positions on gender and ethnicity soon after his death. According to Abou El Fadl, this process generated a number of disputed hadith, many of them traceable to a Companion known as Abu Hurayrah, who had converted relatively shortly before the Prophet's death. It is often A'isha, one of the Prophet's wives, who is found objecting to these reactionary hadith with her own reports. I think I would have liked her.


Overall, a very stimulating read, and one that has made me keen to refresh my knowledge of hermeneutics.

[Ali Mirza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much needed literature on Islamic jurisprudence, albeit dense and KAF does not shy away from using complex legal and Islamic language so it is definitely not for the casual reader. KAF provides an excellent counterbalance to the predominate male interpretation of Islamic law and history. I especially appreciate the chapter on the authoritative and how the function of interpretation has also been a function of gatekeeping by men who use traditional techniques of jurisprudence. There is nothing wrong with the traditional techniques but by nature of who is doing them, they lend themselves to being narrow and not taking seriously other views. This especially contradicts the core purpose of jurisprudence in the Hanafi madhab, which KAF excellently highlights, as ijtihad being something available to everyone (don't tell people they cannot exercise ijtihad because they do not have the requisite knowledge to do so -- they do). I hope that the Usuli Institute's work is able to spread and overtake the mainstream notions of Islam.