Abstract
Islamic Feminism is usually dated to the mid twentieth century and several names are credited with its inception, namely Fatema Mernissi (1940-2015) and Leila Ahmed (b. 1940). Afterwards, a definition was added that Islamic feminists are Muslims who interpret the Quran and Hadith in an egalitarian manner and advocate for women's rights and equality in the public and private sphere. Later names include Amina Wadud, Azizah al-Hibri, Asma Lamrabet, Asma Barlas and Kecia Ali. Yet, most Islamic feminists have an aversion to the use of Hadith in their works, opting to expunge Hadith from their ideology and methodology altogether, focusing only on Qur'anic principles. However, this view neglects other Muslim scholars who worked before this period, among them Aisha Abd al-Rahman, writing under the pen name Bint al-Shati, who began producing her books in 1959, focusing mainly on historical female figures to provide role-models. One name, however, has not been mentioned, though she was actually the first to establish and use the methodology used by most of the Islamic feminists in her book published in 1928, namely Nazira Zeineddine.  Miriam Cooke wrote a biography of her life in 2010 titled “Nazira Zeineddine: A Pioneer of Islamic Feminism” as part of the Makers of the Muslim World series. Though there are some translated excerpts of her first book, they were never translated in their entirety. To give Nazira the credit due to her and give her back her voice a translation of her works is needed.

Bio
Yasmin Amin is the Representative of the Orient-Institut Beirut (Max-Weber-Stiftung) in Cairo. She is an Egyptian-German who holds a BA in Business Administration, a PGD and an MA in Islamic Studies, all three from the American University in Cairo. She received her PhD in Islamic Studies from Exeter University’s Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies researching ‘Humour and Laughter in the Ḥadīth’. Her research covers various aspects of gender issues, early Muslim society and culture, as well as the original texts of Islamic history, law and Hadith. She is co-translator (with Nesrin Amin) of The Sorrowful Muslim’s Guide (Edinburgh University Press/AKU-ISMC 2018), and co-editor (with Nevin Reda) of Islamic Interpretive Tradition and Gender Justice: Processes of Canonization, Subversion and Change (McGill-Queens University Press, 2020). She has published extensively and her next book is a translation of Nazira Zeineddine’s books with Edinburgh University Press/AKU-ISMC (forthcoming 2025).

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