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Sexuality In Islam
In this classic work, Abdelwahab Bouhdiba asserts that Islam is a lyrical view of life in which sexuality enjoys a privileged status. Drawing on both Arabic and Western sources and seeking to integrate the religious and the sexual, Bouhdiba describes the place of sexuality in the traditional Islamic view of the world and examines whether a harmony of sexuality and religious faith is achieved in practice.
Beginning with the Quran, Bouhdiba confronts the question of male supremacy in Islam and the strict separation of the masculine and the feminine. He considers purification practices; Islamic attitudes towards homosexuality, concubinage and legal marriage; and sexual taboos laid down by the Quran. Bouhdiba assesses contemporary sexual practice, including eroticism, misogyny and mysticism, and concludes that the ideal Islamic model of sexuality has been debased.
Abdelwahab Bouhdiba was in 1932 in Kairouan, Tunisia, Abdelwahab Bouhdiba is President of the Beit al-Hikma Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Literature and Arts. An esteemed sociologist and human rights campaigner, Bouhdiba was a member of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities at the United Nations for ten years. He was awarded the UNESCO International Prize for Arab Culture in 2004.
Beginning with the Quran, Bouhdiba confronts the question of male supremacy in Islam and the strict separation of the masculine and the feminine. He considers purification practices; Islamic attitudes towards homosexuality, concubinage and legal marriage; and sexual taboos laid down by the Quran. Bouhdiba assesses contemporary sexual practice, including eroticism, misogyny and mysticism, and concludes that the ideal Islamic model of sexuality has been debased.
Abdelwahab Bouhdiba was in 1932 in Kairouan, Tunisia, Abdelwahab Bouhdiba is President of the Beit al-Hikma Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Literature and Arts. An esteemed sociologist and human rights campaigner, Bouhdiba was a member of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities at the United Nations for ten years. He was awarded the UNESCO International Prize for Arab Culture in 2004.
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 29, 2022
I’m glad I came across this read. It’s not an easy one. Here are some of my thoughts:
- The author, unlike many reviewers might assume, is not necessarily reflecting his own beliefs throughout the book. When he does, he sometimes appears to contradict himself (maybe only to me?) or simply attempt to intellectually trigger through different literally devices.
- It’s not easy to read this because a woman of today’s age and an ally would probably be hoping for an alternative, different interpretation to what we heard in classrooms and among society, but this book illustrates explains the common views, the way they are linked, how they were practiced, and to what ends. Despite receiving religious education for many years, some practices listed here were completely new to me/ I had no information about.
- It would definitely be a smoother read for those who received Islamic education (eg at school). Others might need to search the terms which were mostly kept in the original language.
Having that said:
- The book covers the Arab Hijazi Muslim traditions and although it does bring examples from Egypt and the Maghreb region. This is one/a type of Arabo-Islam, and the author only makes this distinction in the second part of the book.
- Other sources I read about the sexual and reproductive freedoms suggested that some of what the book listed as a general practice was the practice of some Arab/Hijazi tribes, and was not necessarily the case for all tribes and peoples who shared the same lands.
- The author, unlike many reviewers might assume, is not necessarily reflecting his own beliefs throughout the book. When he does, he sometimes appears to contradict himself (maybe only to me?) or simply attempt to intellectually trigger through different literally devices.
- It’s not easy to read this because a woman of today’s age and an ally would probably be hoping for an alternative, different interpretation to what we heard in classrooms and among society, but this book illustrates explains the common views, the way they are linked, how they were practiced, and to what ends. Despite receiving religious education for many years, some practices listed here were completely new to me/ I had no information about.
- It would definitely be a smoother read for those who received Islamic education (eg at school). Others might need to search the terms which were mostly kept in the original language.
Having that said:
- The book covers the Arab Hijazi Muslim traditions and although it does bring examples from Egypt and the Maghreb region. This is one/a type of Arabo-Islam, and the author only makes this distinction in the second part of the book.
- Other sources I read about the sexual and reproductive freedoms suggested that some of what the book listed as a general practice was the practice of some Arab/Hijazi tribes, and was not necessarily the case for all tribes and peoples who shared the same lands.
January 29, 2014
Countless disturbing assumptions. Very local in terms of experiential data. Not successful in terms of the east+west epistemological collage. Ultimately disappointing.
April 10, 2016
terrible. lacks real evidence and constantly uses hadiths that aren't reliable or even accepted amongst Muslim scholars. disappointing to say the least. 2/5 for his eloquence and only that.
February 2, 2016
Mixed feelings.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews