Lamya H’s Hijab Butch Blues as an Epistemological Intervention

Lamya H’s Hijab Butch Blues (The Dial Press, 2023) is a landmark publication of key methodologicaland epistemological significance for the study of gender, sexuality, and women in Islamic studies. Lamya H carves out a space for ambivalent readings of the Qur’an, grounded in her experiences as a queer Muslim woman, rather than relying on academic or conventionally authoritative readings of the Qur’an to grant authority to her own knowledge of the Qur’an’s guidance. Therefore, Hijab Butch Blues merits study as a methodological intervention in knowledge production about the Qur’an which is significant for the study of gender, sexuality, and women in Islam – even if outside the category of books conventionally deemed academic or scholarly.