Qur'an and Woman

by Amina Wadud-Muhsin

This is an analysis of the concept of woman drawn directly from the Qur'an. An explicit attempt to return to the original source--the Qur'an--when the tendency has been to confuse the works of Islamic scholars with the Qur'an, it demonstrates that in order to maintain its relevance, the
Qur'an must be continually reinterpreted; that the importance of the Qur'anic text is its transcendence of time and its expression of eternal values. It is not the text which restricts women, but the interpretations of the text which have come to be held in greater importance than the text. The
significance of this analysis of the Qur'anic concept of woman is measured within the perspective of the text using it both as a force in history, politics, language, culture, intellect, and spirit, and as a divine text that presents guidance to humankind. This book sheds new light on the role of
woman through reviewing the Qur'an itself with its principles of social justice and human equality and its objective of justice.

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 20, 1993

Reviews

[Sanah Mehnaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quran and Woman by Professor amina wadud has been an important book for me throughout my studies and I loved reading it again. It’s a text that I know I will always revisit and every time I do I feel it transforms my relationship with the Quran.

When first reading this book I was sceptical and prepared myself for what I would find outlandish and extremely problematic. But the reality is wadud does not say anything that challenges our normative understandings of basic Islamic values. If anything it affirms the very morals and values Muslims proudly claim. But unfortunately, it is these values of justice and equality that have not been prioritised in readings of the Quran resulting in patriarchal readings. Wadud’s analysis of select verses concerning Muslim women reveals how we do not read the text conscious of its world view or broader ethical framework.

For me, this text emphasises the detachment of Divine discourse from human interpretations as crucial. This is something I struggled with initially being a student of traditional study circles. I uncritically viewed classical interpretations as if they were themselves sacred, as many Muslims do without realising. I believe as students of traditional learning we become overly occupied with the traditional commentaries to the extent that we don’t truly engage with the words of Allah. But reading this text and taking time to critically reflect made me realise how absurd it is to grant any interpretation absolute authority in representing understandings of the Quran. This is not to say traditional commentaries are not of value and I wouldn’t say this is what wadud is asserting either. Rather, she differentiates between the words of Allah and understandings of those words that occurred in a particular time in history. We can engage with traditional commentaries and appreciate them however, we must also be critical of them.

Furthermore, and more importantly, from wadud’s rereading through a hermeneutical approach and her emphasis on the Tawhidic paradigm we realise the necessity of utilising and developing new methods of reading the Quran. Traditional methods of tafsir are not absolute and therefore rereadings of the Quran cannot be done solely through these methods.

A short text but one that paves the way for a holistic relationship with the Quran.