Mulki Al‐sharmani
Biographic Data
| ID | 4153604 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mulki Al‐sharmani |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mulki |
| FAMILY NAME | Al‐sharmani |
| SIGNATURE | AL SHARMANI M |
| AFFILIATIONS | American University in Cairo |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3138-8936 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 65 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Engaging with the Qur'an
In this article, I examine what selected Muslim women in Finland and Egypt do with the Qur'an in their daily lives. I shed light on their modes of engagement with the Qur'an (spiritual, emotional, intellectual, communal). I analyse how their relationship with the Qur'an is shaped and changes over the course of their life. I pay attention to the interplay between the women's daily lives and the ways in which they experience, learn from, grapple wi…
Islamic Feminist Hermeneutics
Islamic Feminist HermeneuticsBetween Scholarship and Lived Realities Mulki Al-Sharmani (bio) One critique leveled at Islamic feminist scholarship is that it is divorced from the realities of lay Muslim women.1 But is it? If I ask a Muslim woman in rural Egypt or in Finland if she has heard of Saʾdiyya Shaikh's tafsīr of praxis or amina wadud's notion of tawḥīd as social praxis, the answer might be no.2 But there is another way to pose the questio…
Islamic Feminist Hermeneutics
Islamic Feminist HermeneuticsBetween Scholarship and Lived Realities Mulki Al-Sharmani (bio) One critique leveled at Islamic feminist scholarship is that it is divorced from the realities of lay Muslim women.1 But is it? If I ask a Muslim woman in rural Egypt or in Finland if she has heard of Saʾdiyya Shaikh's tafsīr of praxis or amina wadud's notion of tawḥīd as social praxis, the answer might be no.2 But there is another way to pose the questio…
Child Custody in Islamic Law
Child Custody in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice in Egypt since the Sixteenth Century. By Ahmed Fekry Ibrahim. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Pp. ix + 266. $99.99, £75
Wellbeing of Transnational Muslim Families
This book examines the needs, aspirations, strategies, and challenges of transnational Muslim migrants in Europe with regard to family practices such as marriage, divorce, and parenting. Critically re-conceptualizing ‘wellbeing’ and unpacking its multiple dimensions in the context of Muslim families, it investigates how migrants make sense of and draw on different norms, laws, and regimes of knowledge as they navigate different aspects of family …
Between ‘Official’ and ‘Unofficial’
This article studies the conclusion and registration of marriage among Finnish Muslims from three interrelated angles: mosques, individuals, and the state. Drawing on interview data from imams and their assistants in eight Helsinki-based mosques, state officials at the local registration office, and selected Muslim women and men, as well as decisions and documents concerning the recognition of marriage in different state institutions, the article…
Transnational migrant families
This special issue seeks to enrich readers’ understandings of the transnational family practices and relations of selected migrant groups of a predominantly Muslim background in a number of Western contexts. It presents theoretically and empirically grounded studies that investigate how these family practices and ties are transnationally shaped, navigated and experienced by different family members. It focuses on two aspects of family life: marri…
Divorce among Transnational Finnish Somalis
This article focuses on divorce among Somali Muslim migrants in Helsinki, drawing on a four- year qualitative study. I examine how divorce experiences are shaped by the transnational social fields inhabited by my interlocutors through family ties and relationships navigated across multiple national contexts. I show that the break-up of marriage is enabled by gendered shifts in my interlocutors’ access to resources and scope for agency within the …
Marriage and transnational family life among Somali migrants in Finland
In this article, we investigate how marriage practices of Somali migrants in Finland are influenced by their transnational kinship. We examine how transnational family ties play a role in migrants’ spouse selection, marriage arrangements, and management of spousal resources. We also identify the factors that enable migrants to successfully navigate marital challenges caused by their transnational kin-based ties. These factors are: companionate ma…
Striving against the ‘Nafs’
I analyze how Somalis in Helsinki re-interpret religious norms on marriage in light of: 1) the challenges of socioeconomic hardships and marginalization in Finland; and 2) ethical principles in Islamic tradition that underlie religious rulings such as striving against the selfishness of the ‘ nafs’ (self) and seeking spiritual advancement. I examine how norms on spousal roles and rights are contested and reinterpreted. I highlight how young women…
Islamic Feminism
This article focuses on contemporary interpretive knowledge projects that engage critically with Islamic religious sciences, and which are driven by the question of gender justice. These projects, which have been loosely termed as Islamic Feminism, are undertaken by Muslim women scholars from different countries who are committed to their religious faith and who are working towards the production of alternative, gender-sensitive religious knowled…
Transnational family networks in the Somali diaspora in Egypt
Diasporic Somalis are increasingly leading a transnational life in which family members are sustained through networks of relations, obligations and resources that are located in different nation-states. These networks and relations enable diasporic Somalis to seek safety for themselves and their relatives, minimize risks and maximize family resources. In this article, I examine three key dimensions of such a way of life, namely: migration; remit…
Legal Reform, Women's Empowerment and Social Change
In the last decade, new family laws have been passed in Egypt, with important ramifications for women. In this article, I argue that two issues diminish the transformative role that these reforms could play in strengthening Egyptian women's rights and achieving gender justice. First, despite the recently passed laws, the model of marriage that the state continues to uphold through its codes and courts is premised on gendered roles and rights for …
Egyptian Family Courts
A significant new law was passed by Egyptian legislators in 2004 introducing family courts to arbitrate family conflict in an effort to promote non-adversarial legal mechanisms. The aim of this paper is to examine how this new legal system is working for female plaintiffs. Through an analysis of court practices in a number of divorce and maintenance cases, this essay will make two central arguments: First, I will argue that the benefits family co…
Transnational Somali Families in Cairo
In this article, I examine how diasporic Somalis in Cairo experience being part of transnational families. I analyze two practices through which transnational family relations are maintained, experienced, and negotiated: (1) living arrangements of relatives and management of family affairs and (2) the use of the Internet and videotapes. I argue that transnational families make collective decisions about which family members live together, where, …
Living Transnationally
Since the Somali Civil War in 1991, there have been a large number of Somalis living in the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Australia. An increasing number of these Somalis are living in transnational households where family members live and sometimes move back and forth in different nation‐states, yet these families maintain strong ties, share resources, and make decisions collectively about the well‐being of different members. In this p…
Living Transnationally
Since the Somali Civil War in 1991, there have been a large number of Somalis living in the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Australia. An increasing number of these Somalis are living in transnational households where family members live and sometimes move back and forth in different nation‐states, yet these families maintain strong ties, share resources, and make decisions collectively about the well‐being of different members. In this p…
Transnational family networks in the Somali diaspora in Egypt
Diasporic Somalis are increasingly leading a transnational life in which family members are sustained through networks of relations, obligations and resources that are located in different nation-states. These networks and relations enable diasporic Somalis to seek safety for themselves and their relatives, minimize risks and maximize family resources. In this article, I examine three key dimensions of such a way of life, namely: migration; remit…
Egyptian Family Courts
A significant new law was passed by Egyptian legislators in 2004 introducing family courts to arbitrate family conflict in an effort to promote non-adversarial legal mechanisms. The aim of this paper is to examine how this new legal system is working for female plaintiffs. Through an analysis of court practices in a number of divorce and maintenance cases, this essay will make two central arguments: First, I will argue that the benefits family co…
Divorce among Transnational Finnish Somalis
This article focuses on divorce among Somali Muslim migrants in Helsinki, drawing on a four- year qualitative study. I examine how divorce experiences are shaped by the transnational social fields inhabited by my interlocutors through family ties and relationships navigated across multiple national contexts. I show that the break-up of marriage is enabled by gendered shifts in my interlocutors’ access to resources and scope for agency within the …
Transnational Somali Families in Cairo
In this article, I examine how diasporic Somalis in Cairo experience being part of transnational families. I analyze two practices through which transnational family relations are maintained, experienced, and negotiated: (1) living arrangements of relatives and management of family affairs and (2) the use of the Internet and videotapes. I argue that transnational families make collective decisions about which family members live together, where, …
Islamic Feminism
This article focuses on contemporary interpretive knowledge projects that engage critically with Islamic religious sciences, and which are driven by the question of gender justice. These projects, which have been loosely termed as Islamic Feminism, are undertaken by Muslim women scholars from different countries who are committed to their religious faith and who are working towards the production of alternative, gender-sensitive religious knowled…
Engaging with the Qur'an
In this article, I examine what selected Muslim women in Finland and Egypt do with the Qur'an in their daily lives. I shed light on their modes of engagement with the Qur'an (spiritual, emotional, intellectual, communal). I analyse how their relationship with the Qur'an is shaped and changes over the course of their life. I pay attention to the interplay between the women's daily lives and the ways in which they experience, learn from, grapple wi…
Living Transnationally
Since the Somali Civil War in 1991, there have been a large number of Somalis living in the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Australia. An increasing number of these Somalis are living in transnational households where family members live and sometimes move back and forth in different nation‐states, yet these families maintain strong ties, share resources, and make decisions collectively about the well‐being of different members. In this p…
Transnational Somali Families in Cairo
In this article, I examine how diasporic Somalis in Cairo experience being part of transnational families. I analyze two practices through which transnational family relations are maintained, experienced, and negotiated: (1) living arrangements of relatives and management of family affairs and (2) the use of the Internet and videotapes. I argue that transnational families make collective decisions about which family members live together, where, …
Egyptian Family Courts
A significant new law was passed by Egyptian legislators in 2004 introducing family courts to arbitrate family conflict in an effort to promote non-adversarial legal mechanisms. The aim of this paper is to examine how this new legal system is working for female plaintiffs. Through an analysis of court practices in a number of divorce and maintenance cases, this essay will make two central arguments: First, I will argue that the benefits family co…
Transnational family networks in the Somali diaspora in Egypt
Diasporic Somalis are increasingly leading a transnational life in which family members are sustained through networks of relations, obligations and resources that are located in different nation-states. These networks and relations enable diasporic Somalis to seek safety for themselves and their relatives, minimize risks and maximize family resources. In this article, I examine three key dimensions of such a way of life, namely: migration; remit…
Legal Reform, Women's Empowerment and Social Change
In the last decade, new family laws have been passed in Egypt, with important ramifications for women. In this article, I argue that two issues diminish the transformative role that these reforms could play in strengthening Egyptian women's rights and achieving gender justice. First, despite the recently passed laws, the model of marriage that the state continues to uphold through its codes and courts is premised on gendered roles and rights for …
Islamic Feminism
This article focuses on contemporary interpretive knowledge projects that engage critically with Islamic religious sciences, and which are driven by the question of gender justice. These projects, which have been loosely termed as Islamic Feminism, are undertaken by Muslim women scholars from different countries who are committed to their religious faith and who are working towards the production of alternative, gender-sensitive religious knowled…
Striving against the ‘Nafs’
I analyze how Somalis in Helsinki re-interpret religious norms on marriage in light of: 1) the challenges of socioeconomic hardships and marginalization in Finland; and 2) ethical principles in Islamic tradition that underlie religious rulings such as striving against the selfishness of the ‘ nafs’ (self) and seeking spiritual advancement. I examine how norms on spousal roles and rights are contested and reinterpreted. I highlight how young women…
Marriage and transnational family life among Somali migrants in Finland
In this article, we investigate how marriage practices of Somali migrants in Finland are influenced by their transnational kinship. We examine how transnational family ties play a role in migrants’ spouse selection, marriage arrangements, and management of spousal resources. We also identify the factors that enable migrants to successfully navigate marital challenges caused by their transnational kin-based ties. These factors are: companionate ma…
Transnational migrant families
This special issue seeks to enrich readers’ understandings of the transnational family practices and relations of selected migrant groups of a predominantly Muslim background in a number of Western contexts. It presents theoretically and empirically grounded studies that investigate how these family practices and ties are transnationally shaped, navigated and experienced by different family members. It focuses on two aspects of family life: marri…
Divorce among Transnational Finnish Somalis
This article focuses on divorce among Somali Muslim migrants in Helsinki, drawing on a four- year qualitative study. I examine how divorce experiences are shaped by the transnational social fields inhabited by my interlocutors through family ties and relationships navigated across multiple national contexts. I show that the break-up of marriage is enabled by gendered shifts in my interlocutors’ access to resources and scope for agency within the …
Between ‘Official’ and ‘Unofficial’
This article studies the conclusion and registration of marriage among Finnish Muslims from three interrelated angles: mosques, individuals, and the state. Drawing on interview data from imams and their assistants in eight Helsinki-based mosques, state officials at the local registration office, and selected Muslim women and men, as well as decisions and documents concerning the recognition of marriage in different state institutions, the article…
Wellbeing of Transnational Muslim Families
This book examines the needs, aspirations, strategies, and challenges of transnational Muslim migrants in Europe with regard to family practices such as marriage, divorce, and parenting. Critically re-conceptualizing ‘wellbeing’ and unpacking its multiple dimensions in the context of Muslim families, it investigates how migrants make sense of and draw on different norms, laws, and regimes of knowledge as they navigate different aspects of family …
Child Custody in Islamic Law
Child Custody in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice in Egypt since the Sixteenth Century. By Ahmed Fekry Ibrahim. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Pp. ix + 266. $99.99, £75
Islamic Feminist Hermeneutics
Islamic Feminist HermeneuticsBetween Scholarship and Lived Realities Mulki Al-Sharmani (bio) One critique leveled at Islamic feminist scholarship is that it is divorced from the realities of lay Muslim women.1 But is it? If I ask a Muslim woman in rural Egypt or in Finland if she has heard of Saʾdiyya Shaikh's tafsīr of praxis or amina wadud's notion of tawḥīd as social praxis, the answer might be no.2 But there is another way to pose the questio…
Islamic Feminist Hermeneutics
Islamic Feminist HermeneuticsBetween Scholarship and Lived Realities Mulki Al-Sharmani (bio) One critique leveled at Islamic feminist scholarship is that it is divorced from the realities of lay Muslim women.1 But is it? If I ask a Muslim woman in rural Egypt or in Finland if she has heard of Saʾdiyya Shaikh's tafsīr of praxis or amina wadud's notion of tawḥīd as social praxis, the answer might be no.2 But there is another way to pose the questio…
Engaging with the Qur'an
In this article, I examine what selected Muslim women in Finland and Egypt do with the Qur'an in their daily lives. I shed light on their modes of engagement with the Qur'an (spiritual, emotional, intellectual, communal). I analyse how their relationship with the Qur'an is shaped and changes over the course of their life. I pay attention to the interplay between the women's daily lives and the ways in which they experience, learn from, grapple wi…
Sociology (16 works) · Political science (13 works) · Gender Studies (12 works) · Law (10 works) · Islamic Studies and History (9 works) · Gender Studies (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Marriage and Sexual Relationships (7 works) · Migration and Labor Dynamics (6 works) · Islam (5 works)