Week #3 "What is a Name?" - Amina Wa'dud Reflection

In the reading "What's in a Name?" by Amina Wa'dud, Wa'dud begins with a brief introduction with her experiences with Islam and how it has transformed her definition of it many times. She also introduces many new perspective of how different Qur'anic terms like tawhid, khalifah, and taqwa. When introducing these terms she expresses the relationship between them and speaks how it has interpreted many ideas from readings that were female-inclusive.  This is very interesting because it creates a solid introduction to her opinions and experiences of the females role in Islam. Afterwards she begins to reveal the many definitions that are used when describing Islam. This was also very interesting for me to read because it helped me to broaden my perspective on the ideas made of Islam. I can remember the first day of class and mentioning one of the definitions Amina includes which is "Islam means engaged surrender". It was also very interesting and rewarding to see the many other definitions that reflects the lifestyles of the few muslim people that I have met in my lifetime. Meaning many used the different definitions from "Islam is whatever I do or my culture does" to  "engaged surrender" to which I was introduced to as when meeting one of my closest muslim friend. As I continued to read, I really enjoyed the flow and voice Amina had in her writing as she began to describe the ways Islam can become misinterpreted and misunderstood if definitions and opinion were not clearly stated. This becomes a very important factor as there can be many perspectives to Islam and its original meaning to ones life. This returns back to the idea Amina had about Islam connecting to the Human dignity and how "diverse conclusions indicate that what is basic to 'Islam' results from only the human interaction with those texts-an interpretive process." This is an important factor because many of the themes in the Qu'ran as Amina had stated surrounds itself with the idea of male dominance. This brings up the problem that although the Qu'ran can be interpreted in many different way based on the humans interaction with the Qu'ran, it is not considered valid if comes from a females perspective. This supports the principle of Tawhid that Amina refers to a term Islam uses to claim that it does not oppress women. As she furthers explains the Tawhidic Paradigm, she gives an example of how it had stated that men and women are equal yet men have a power over women that women do not have over men. She begins to clearly state her idea of how it is very contradicting and problematic for muslim women to fully grasp how it does not oppress them yet somehow liberates them through their relationship with Allah. This begins to make me question whether the purpose of these ideas and themes made in the Qu'ran are supposed to be helpful for women who consider themselves muslim. It makes me question if there will be a day to when that statement becomes true in every word that is put together.... Hoping that "women and men are equal" in the practice of Islam. https://youtu.be/UCUz2b050lE