Uncovering Constructions of Gender and Sexuality in al-Ghazali’s Etiquette of Marriage
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2015
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Haverford College. Department of Religion
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Open Access
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Abstract
This thesis seeks to understand the constructions of gender and sexuality fundamentally a part of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s analysis of the virtue of marriage, as translated by Madelin Farah in Marriage and Sexuality in Islam: A Translation al-Ghazālī's Book on the Etiquette of Marriage From the Iḥyāʼ. Specifically, my argument focuses on how Ghazali constructs his argument in favor of marriage, particularly how the themes of desire, duty, and virtue ingrained throughout, influence Ghazali’s discussion and analysis of marriage. I argue that these themes are products of Ghazali’s personal backstory and life experiences, and with this in mind I argue that the themes of desire, virtue and duty are fundamentally constructed and gendered based upon the interrelationship of the historical and societal contexts where Ghazali was living when he wrote the text, and his personal interpretation of sacred texts he uses to evidence his claims. The analysis Ghazali presents in the Etiquette is fully dependent on his use of the Quran and Sunna (transmissions from the life of the Prophet) to evidence his claims. Therefore, this thesis also attempts to deconstruct Ghazali’s use of such textual evidence, giving special attention the inconsistences between his own androcentric conclusions and the ideas present in the Quran and Sunna. This being said, this thesis seeks, first and foremost, to demonstrate specifically how Ghazali’s interpretation of sacred texts reflect particular constructions of sexuality and gender necessarily a apart of his own life experiences, by paying attention to each gender’s distinct capacity to engage with the three themes.