Amina Wadud
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Amina Wadud is an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia, having joined that university after a stint as Assistant Professor at the International Islamic University in Malaysia, a post she had held since 1989. Wadud's research specialities include Gender and Qur'anic Studies. She wrote a landmark book on the subject, Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective. The first edition of the book, published by Sisters in Islam in Malaysia continues to be used all over the world as a basic text for activists and academics alike. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and, during graduate school, she studied Arabic in Egypt at the American University in Cairo, Cairo University, and Al-Azhar University. After publishing her first book, she spoke at universities and various other gatherings throughout the United States and abroad, for example, in Jordan, South and Southern Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan, Indonesia, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, Sarajevo, Spain, and Malaysia.
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[edit] Friday Prayer
Wadud was the cause of controversy in March 2005 when she led a Friday prayer for a group of Muslims in New York City, a job usually reserved for men. Wadud was the subject of much debate and Muslim juristic discourse after leading a Friday prayer congregation of over 100 men and women in the Episcopal cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York on March 18, 2005, breaking with the tradition of having only male imams. Three mosques had refused to host the service. (The event was not the first time in the history of Islam that a woman had led the Friday prayer. See Women as imams for a discussion of the issue.)
In August 1994, Wadud delivered a Friday khutbah (sermon) on "Islam as Engaged Surrender" at the Claremont Main Road Mosque in Cape Town, South Africa. At the time, this was largely unheard of in the Muslim world. As a result, there were attempts in Virginia by some Muslims to have her removed from her position at Virginia Commonwealth University.
There has been some objection and some support from Muslims around the world to Wadud's imamate. In spite of the criticism, Wadud has continued her speaking engagements, and has continued to lead mixed-gender Friday prayer services. On October 28, 2005, following her talk at the International Congress on Islamic Feminism in Barcelona, Spain, she was invited to lead a congregation of about thirty people.
[edit] Media appearance
She appeared on WNYC radio on July 14, 2006; there she discussed the issue of her activities of bringing women into a gender-mixed Friday prayer service.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Virginia Commonwealth University faculty biography
- Amina Wadud interview
- Woman Imam, BBC Urdu page
- Who is Dr Wadud (Urdu)?
- More Qur'an-only Feminism
- Gender and Reform in Islam
- Associated Press story: Woman leads Muslim prayer service (CNN link)
- WNYC podcast of July 14, 2006 radio appearance:
- [1] (index of podcasts)
- Dr. Amina Wadud and the Progressive Muslims: Some Reflections on Woman-Led Prayer Answered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari - SunniPath Answers
- An Innovation of Misguidance:Amina Wadud’s Unenlightened Feminism by GF Haddad (PDF)
