Interdisciplinary Approach to Overcoming the Persistence of Patriarchal Islamic Interpretations: Gender Equality, the Development of Empathy and Children’s Rights, and Insights from the Reformist Eurasian Scholars of Early Twentieth Century
Zhussipbek G. Tasbolat A. Nagayeva Z.
1 January 2024Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Open Theology
2024#10Issue 1
Gender equality and women’s rights are among the most discussed issues in the context of Islam. Any thorough analysis of the persistence of conservative patriarchal religious interpretations in Muslim communities should also consider social factors. The conservative appropriation of Islam is not only the result of theological factors but also a manifestation of a conservative and patriarchal habitus. This article draws attention to the vitality of empathy in establishing universal equal human dignity. It dwells on the idea of the universal innate nature of the child to offer some solutions to overcome the persistence of conservative religious interpretations and develop gender equality in the Muslim context. Also, the reformist views of the Jadids and Alash intellectuals, the Eurasian Muslim reformists of the early twentieth century, are analyzed as authentic historical and conceptual precedents to develop gender-egalitarian Islamic interpretations. Overall, this article establishes a connection between women’s rights in Islam, the universal innate nature of the child (and the universality of children’s right-friendly parenting and education that fosters empathy and critical thinking), and the intellectual legacy of the Jadids and Alash intellectuals, who wanted to transform the conservative and patriarchal habitus through educational reform, literary works, and a rationalistic, thematico-holistic approach to Islam.
Alash , children’s rights , conservative and patriarchal habitus , empathy , erosion of empathy , Eurasia , gender egalitarian Islamic interpretations , Islamic rationalism , the Jadids , universality of human rights
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Department of Social Sciences, Suleyman Demirel University, Kaskelen, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Institute of Philosophy, Political Science and Religious Studies, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Nur-Mubarak Islamic University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Montessori Early Age Development Educator, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Department of Social Sciences
Institute of Philosophy
Nur-Mubarak Islamic University
Montessori Early Age Development Educator
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