Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research

Collection: Gender & Islam

As the discourse on gender, femininity, and masculinity continues to change, Muslims who are committed to their faith seek answers that don’t put them at odds with current trends and do not alienate them from their traditional scriptures or spaces. The ideological underpinnings of contemporary movements that may contradict the foundations of Islamic doctrine are often lost on most young people who gravitate towards vehicles they find empowering. With the rise of various strands of feminism and movements that make various claims to uplifting women’s rights, there has also been a counter-movement that claims to assert masculinity and traditional male roles perceived to be under attack. This collection aims to offer perspective on the challenging elements of modern-day movements and to describe traditional Islamic understandings of gender, femininity, and masculinity and how they could play out in our modern world in a way that’s authentically Islamic and practically fulfilling. As Muslims grapple with current societal ideals of the “modern man” and “modern woman,” this collection will examine role models from the Qur’an and Sunnah who exemplify the qualities we seek to embody. As contemporary frameworks are rooted in legitimate grievances, we seek to put forth empowering perspectives that are both true to the tradition and relevant to current realities.

The papers in this collection thoughtfully cover a variety of perspectives by a variety of authors. While the range of topics is broad, it is certainly not all-encompassing. The collection will include a few previously published papers and will serve as a space for further research papers on this topic (see our call for papers form). As always, we are grateful to our authors and welcome feedback from our audience.