TALHA JAVED

TJ02904

BOOK REVIEW

“QURAN AND WOMEN: REREADING THE SACRED TEXT FROM

WOMAN’S PERSPECTIVE”
 Amina Wadud, an African-American scholar and a converted Muslim led a Friday

sermon of a group of 100 men and women in an Anglican church in Manhattan on March 18,

2005. The event instantly caused a commotion within the global Islamic community. This

event demonstrated the mindset of the majority of Muslim community and how it is

conservative and reluctant to the change. The sermon was already a sight of controversy

when no Mosque was prepared to host such an event. An art gallery based in New York gave

their rooms, but later they were forced to withdraw their offer when faced with the bomb

threats. The strengthening of the conservative sentiment of the preponderant Islamic leaders

who rejected the possibility of a female imam leading a prayer of mixed group of Muslims by

the Islamic mass media acted as an icing on the cake. (Stratton, 2005). Although there have

been no consensus on explicit Quranic passages or strong hadiths that forbid women from

doing so (Samoleit, 2007). Wadud was so courageous to ask the mixed-sex audience whether

Allah was a male by defying all the Islamic gender norms.

Amina Wadud is a well-known and modern Muslim intellectual. She focuses on the

Quran exegesis with a feministic focus. She earned the reputation as an Islamic feminist even

before the happening of such an awe-inspiring moment. She holds a Ph.D. in Islamic and

Arabic studies and began working at Malaysia’s International Islamic University in 1989. She

has been teaching Women and Quran and the patriarchal misinterpretation of the scripture at

the Virginia Commonwealth University since 1992. She has dedicated her life to Islamic

Studies and tried to understand the Quran better from a female perspective; a point of view

that until recently had a little voice.

In her book “Quran and Women: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s

Perspective”, Amina Wadud examines the role of the human creation and the Hereafter, the

influence of the key female figures in the Holy Quran, and women’s rights by providing a

female voice to a source typically analyzed by males: The Quran. Her masterful work has
contributed greatly to the feminist movement of in Islam. Her perspective diminishes many

misconceptions of the people regarding the gender roles of men and women in the Muslim

society.

Wadud’s book “Quran and Women: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s

Perspective” comprises of an introduction, four chapters and a conclusion. She has written

each section to serve a special purpose which adds a feminist perspective of the Quran.

Wadud introduces the book by describing her hermeneutical approach and methodology used

in the analysis of the Quranic language. In this way, she added a strong sense of validity to

her writing. She also points out the small differences the Quran makes between the men and

the women. She has made the book extremely user friendly by providing the information in

such a manner that it’s even understandable by a person who is not acquainted with Islam.

The overview of the vocabulary and the frequently used terms in the book can be regarded as

one of the best features of the introduction.

Wadud’s study is aimed to take into account aspects of the gender equality in the

Quranic world view. She tried to confine her study strictly to the Quran by not taking a

relevant hadith into consideration. Her main objective is to show the relevance of Quran to

the lives of the modern women by reading it from a feminine perspective and “reviewing the

words to find an understanding of the words and the contexts”. She says “I believe the Qur'an

adapts to the context of the modern woman as smoothly as it adapted to the original Muslim

community fourteen centuries ago. This adaptation can be demonstrated if the text is

interpreted with her in mind, thus indicating the universality of the text. Any interpretations

which narrowly apply the Qur'anic guidelines only to literal mimics of the original

community do an injustice to the text" (Wadud, 1999).

 The first two chapters, “In the Beginning, Man and Woman were Equal: Human

creation in the Quran” and “The Quranic View of the Woman in This World” are most

effective when read together. They represent the two stages of the human existence. The first

highlights the equality in the creation of a single nafs (soul). The second explains the

distinction between individuals only on the basis of Taqwa (reflecting both a pious attitude of

"constraints appropriate to a social-moral system" and an action of "consciousness of Allah"

because of such pious manner) and "how the potential for change, growth and development

lies within the nafs of the individual (or the group)". The second chapter looks at some of the

key female characters in the Islamic world and analyzes their roles and functions. (Wadud,

1999). The third chapter “The equity of recompense: The Hereafter in the Quran” covers a

human recompense base on the human activity. The fourth chapter “Rights and Roles of

Women: Some controversies” disputes over the concepts of inherent roles of men and

women. She acknowledges the fact that only women can carry and suckle the biological and

noble function of children, but Quran does not restrict woman’s role to just a mother. The

author implies the significance of the context and the timeline in “Understanding the Quranic

social reform for women”. According to her, Quran does not operate in a void. It responded

to particular circumstances in the Arabia at the time of the revelation (Wadud, 1999).

Wadud has used Fazlur Rehman’s method while interpreting the text. He states that

“that all Qur'anic passages, revealed as they were in a specific time in history and within

certain general and particular circumstances, were given expression relative to those

circumstances. However, the message is not limited to that time or those circumstances

historically. A reader must understand the implications of the Qur'anic expressions during the

time in which they were expressed in order to determine their proper meaning. That meaning

gives the intention of the rulings or principles in the particular verse" (Wadud, 1999).
 Wadud’s hermeneutical model uses three aspects of the text to support her

conclusions. The first aspect is the context in which the Holy Quran was revealed. The

second one is the grammatical composition of the text i-e how the text says what it is trying

to say. The third one is the Quranic world view. Notable part of Wadud’s research revolves

around the examination of the meanings of the words or groups of words used in Quran. Her

reason for such an approach is that certain Quranic words are used narrowly that result in

result in the restriction of the application of Quranic principles. She has stated that some

interpreters project negative meanings while translating the text in order to bring satisfaction

to personal prejudices regarding women and generalize such claims even on the basis of a

single word. She writes “Other negative terms, if used at all, in the Quran are neither directly

nor exclusively associated with women. Even when a negative word is coincidentally used

exclusively with reference to the women, it does not mean that all women necessarily fall

prey to the indications of that word or that men are exempted from falling prey or permitted

to fall prey. The interpretations of these words and other syntactical structures have been

juxtaposed with the entire Quranic world-view” (Wadud, 1999).

Regardless of a beautiful hermeneutical approach to the text, Wadud has some

questions unanswered related to her hermeneutical approach and the some readings of the

Quran. The first is how can principles (for example those of a hermeneutical model) be

extracted from outside the Islamic world and applied for the study of Quran without risking a

diversion from the metaphysical and epistemological underlying assumptions of Quran? The

second question is how can a line be drawn between the universal intentions of the Quranic

principles and the subjective interpretation, if each reading is to be explained in the social

context. The third is how a woman may recapture her humanity and move beyond exercising

a reading of the Quran from a feminist perspective (Barazangi, 1994).

 The verse 34 Surah 4 of the holy Quran states the necessary ‘disciplinary’ steps a

husband may take in case of noshouz-disobedience of his wife. The word Noshouz has

generally been defined as rising against the husband, deserting him or resisting him. Fatima

Mernissi emphasized her opinion that this type of noshouz covers also a woman’s rejection of

her husband sexual demands, while Amina Wadud was of the opinion that the word means

disruption of marital harmony. Fatima Mernissi emphasized her opinion that this type of

noshouz covers also a woman’s rejection of her husband sexual demands, while Amina

Wadud was of the opinion that the word means disruption of marital harmony. For now, it is

of very less importance whether the words means “rising against the husband” or “disruption

of marital harmony. The main question with which the Islamic world has been struggling is

that “how to deal with the fact that this allows a man to beat his wife”. The scholarly research

conducted by Wadud in her book “Quran and Women” tried to shed her doubts on the word

“darbara” that may have a different meaning that beating. She argues that in some reference

of the word, this word has been used to indicate leaving as opposed to “violence or to indicate

force”. A group of scholars also describe the possibility of a different meaning of the word

“darbara” in their book “Ein einziges Wort und seine grosse Wirkung”. Although, research

conducted by Wadud deserves to be commended for taking a feminist stance while

interpreting the Quran, there are limits to the approach. Fatima Mernissi gives an excellent

explanation of the difficult political situation which Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) was facing

amidst the Muslim community. His refusal to use violence against women only complicated

his position and caused him a great deal of resentment. The verse was necessary for the angry

Muslim men to calm down. Since the discourse of the verse was aimed at men, it can tell us

about the social context of Prophet (P.B.U.H) life. This context can be described as a male

dominant and patriarchal by nature. Is it possible to expect gender equality from such a social

and historical context that corresponds to our current understanding of gender equality?
Therefore, trying to find a linguistic ' way out ' from this ' daraba ' dilemma is not convincing.

Rather, the conclusion that came to it, reflects the assumption that ' Qur'an can not sanction a

woman beating. Therefore the word beating might not have meant beating. Denial is not an

appropriate course of action (Manea, 2011)

Wadud has made a remarkable attempt at giving a feminist perspective of the Holy

Quran. She has contributed immensely to our knowledge of gender roles, as defined in

Quran, by analyzing various verses related to the role of human creation; rights of women

and the influence of the important female figures. And in doing so, she has challenged the

patriarchal interpretation of Islam. Her method of approaching the subject matter makes the

reading enjoyable and easy to follow. Finally, she has opened a new path for young thinkers

by showing how a single text can be perceived differently by every person. And it will

provide a greater insight to the reader when feminists from different regions will also read

this and give their views about Wadud’s interpretation.

.
Bibliography
Barazangi, N. H. (1994). https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/7543. Retrieved from
https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/7543.

Manea, E. (2011). Rereading the Quran: A Muslim's Woman Perspective. Journal of the Dutch-
Flemish Levinas Society, 21-29.

Samoleit, A. (2007). grin. Retrieved from grin: https://www.grin.com/document/84172

Stratton, A. (2005, March 28). newstatesman. Retrieved from newstatesman:

https://www.newstatesman.com/node/161780

Wadud, A. (1999). Quran and Women: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s Perspective.
Oxford University Press.