Even feminist-leaning Muslim scholars retain the premise that female appearance threatens communal integrity.

Evidence

For example, Abd al..Halim Abu Shuqqah (d. 1995), a well..respected Islamic scholar, wrote an extensive six..volume study aimed at combating interpretations of Quranic verses and ab.adith, popular among con.. temporary Muslims, that restrict women’s participation in economic, politi.. cal, and social domains (Abu Shuqqah 1995 ) . Abu Shuqqah meticulously goes through scholarly debates and counterexamples from the lives of Muham.. med, his female kin, and his Companions, questioning the authenticity of many of the canonical sources used to buttress these claims in order to show that women have the right to participate in the umma’s productive life, to have sexual pleasure, and to pursue various kinds of social relationships that are often considered to be reserved only for men in popular culture. It is strik.. ing, however, that even though Abu Shuqqah makes these arguments, he continues to uphold the principle that women’s physical appearance is a threat to the integrity of the Muslim community and that men are more libid.. inal and sexually charged than women. — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 783

Categorization

• XREF: Resonates with the ADENDUM article on ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ — the persistent premise that female modesty protects communal order recurs across cultures and eras.
• QUESTION: What does it mean that progressive reform stays inside the very premise it seeks to liberalize (female appearance as threat)? This is the book’s central puzzle.