Adis Duderija - PhD Lecturer in Islam and Society, in the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science at Griffith University

A number of recently published studies by reformist mindedMuslim male scholars have both questioned the normative nature of andemphasized the need to rethink some of the fundamental assumptions andinterpretational models governing traditional Islamic legal theories and ethics.As part of this process they have strongly expressed the need to develop novelIslamic hermeneutics. One major element in this emergence of novel Islamichermeneutics is the production of an increased number of what I term genderequality affirmative scholarship on Islam by these reformist- minded Muslimmale scholars. This article examines the arguments employed by threeprominent contemporary Muslim male reformist scholars, both Shī ī andSunnī, in developing gender equality affirmative interpretations of Islam.They include Nasr Abu Zayd, Mohsen Kadivar, and Khaled Abou El Fadl

Reformist ijtihad, Islamic hermeneutics, gender equality, Nasr Abu Zayd, Mohsen Kadivar, Khaled Abou El Fadl