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This chapter focuses on Muslima theology and outlines its unique combination of constructive, theological, and comparative lenses. It situates Muslima theology within the larger method of comparative theology, and argues for the suitability of this method due to its requirement of deep knowledge of other traditions, its capacity to foster identification of more precise and meaningful points of comparison, and its relegation of assumptions of parity. The chapter then outlines the unique specifics of this project as a form of comparative feminist theology, including its Islam-to-Christianity orientation and its focus on feminist theological methods and concerns. The chapter concludes by introducing the new starting analogy of the two “Divine Words” (the Qur’an and Jesus) and resultant reorientation of the comparative project and methodological form.

This chapter explores the way hegemonic othering, patriarchy, and androcentrism impact Islamic feminist approaches to the Islamic tradition and to interreligious feminist engagement. To provide a concrete illustration, it surveys prominent positions adopted in the debate over the validity and referent of “Islamic feminism” and connects this to the main interpretative strategies Muslim women scholars in the United States use to negotiate and assert authority. Building on more recent critiques of the, the chapter then argues for the necessity of a new model of interreligious feminist engagement that goes beyond the story of “poisoned wells,” a new model that can address obstacles in interreligious feminist engagement; grapple with hegemony, patriarchy, and androcentrism; and respond to Islamic feminist calls for new approaches. The chapter concludes with an overview of the remaining parts of the book.

The book’s introduction provides a comprehensive listing of female figures in the Qur’an. This includes references to the family members of Qur’anic prophets—figures who feature as mothers, wives, daughters, and extended female kin. It situates each Qur’anic female figure vis-à-vis other figures along the narrative arc from the genesis of humanity, through the ancient peoples and their prophets, to the advent of the Qur’an in Arabia. The listing also includes categories of paradisal beings and women figures who are alluded to but not depicted directly. In addition, the book’s introduction outlines how retelling the sacred past generates a new sacred present that is affective and didactic. It discusses relevant rhetorical and stylistic elements of the Qur’an, considers competing methodological trends in Qur’anic studies, and summarizes some of the work’s broader implications for feminist and female-centric exegesis.

Utilizing the conceptual and hermeneutical infrastructure developed in earlier chapters, this chapter begins to reinterpret the Qurʾānic discourse on the religious Other and to articulate a Muslima theology of religious pluralism. It distinguishes between hierarchical and lateral religious difference in the Qurʾān—between the semantic fields of taqwā (God consciousness) and umma (community)—and explores the relationship between the two distinct genres. On this basis, this chapter argues against the static and holistic alignment of the two genres of difference, which results in the automatic ascription of a particular evaluation or status to a particular religious community.