Author Archives
Kecia Ali is an Associate Professor of Religion at Boston University. She writes on early Islamic law, women, ethics, and biography. Her books include Sexual Ethics and Islam (2006), Marriage and Slavery in Early Islam (2010), Imam Shafi‘i: Scholar and Saint (2011), and The Lives of Muhammad (2014). She co-edited the revised edition of A Guide for Women in Religion (2014). She lives in the Boston area with her family and tweets as @kecia_ali.
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All-Male Nonsense by Kecia Ali
A brilliant site has been making the rounds of social media: allmalepanels.tumblr.com. I became aware of it just in time to suggest a post: an all-male symposium at Cambridge Muslim College on the future of the madrasa. The original article, since removed, touted its diverse participants, but as… Read More ›
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ISIS and Authority by Kecia Ali
Last week, Graeme Wood caused quite a stir with his article “What ISIS Really Wants.” It focused on the apocalyptic religious vision of the group and contended that ISIS was, as a scholar quoted in the article put it, “smack in the… Read More ›
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So You’re Going to the AAR/SBL Annual Meeting by Kecia Ali
Ten thousand people descend on San Diego this weekend for the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature joint Annual Meeting. We will present papers, interview and be interviewed, shop for books, and network busily. Many will feel… Read More ›
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Random Email Blues #2 by Kecia Ali
I read your guideline[s] on “Writing a successful conference paper proposal”. I intend to submit a paper for a conference, for the first time, so I am a bit afraid and hesitant. Actually, I have many ideas[;] still I feel… Read More ›
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Whose Sharia Is It? by Kecia Ali
It has been a lousy month for Islamic law. First, there was the kidnapping and threatened sale of Nigerian girls by Boko Haram, which claimed religious acceptability for their acts. As Muslim theologian Jerusha Lamptey opined, this is not my sharia. Then,… Read More ›
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Making Our Way – Updating the Guide for Women in Religion by Kecia Ali
Mary E. Hunt, Monique Moultrie, and I are updating the Guide for Women in Religion. The original version was edited by Mary with an impressive cast of contributors and first published ten years ago. Organized with entries from “A” (AAR)… Read More ›
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Men, Men, Everywhere by Kecia Ali
I recently published an essay in the British quarterly Critical Muslim. In it, I chose books on Muslim thought and reform by three prominent, well-regarded male scholars and I counted mentions of individual women in their indexes, their texts, or… Read More ›
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Religion is Good Counsel by Kecia Ali
Last week I received an email out of the blue about a book I published seven years ago. The greeting was polite. The body of the email managed to be simultaneously critical and vague. The writer began by noting that… Read More ›
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Third Time’s the Charm by Kecia Ali
In the space of a week, three obtuse remarks by non-Muslim men about Muslim women ticked me off. First was a letter to the editor by Rabbi Howard Berman, published in the Boston Globe on April 21. The title (“Women’s… Read More ›
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Milestones and Musings by Kecia Ali
My first doctoral student defended his dissertation this week. It was a milestone for him and for me. Colleagues – those who participated in the defense and those present when we emerged from our conclave – congratulated us both. One… Read More ›
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There’s Something about Mary by Kecia Ali
Scholarly life – like life in general – requires balancing one’s own priorities with involvement in others’ project and plans. Say yes too frequently and you’ll never get anything written; say no too often and you miss the excitement give… Read More ›
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Muslim Masculinities: Men Have Gender Too by Kecia Ali
Twenty years ago, when I was an undergraduate, another student in a history seminar casually referred to women as “people of gender.” He was not being ironic. At the time, I felt amused and superior and frustrated: not only did… Read More ›
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