Nurturing Gender Justice: Qurʾanic Interpretation and Muslim Feminist Thought

Abstract

Nurturing Gender JusticeQurʾanic Interpretation and Muslim Feminist Thought Roshan Iqbal (bio) Here I attempt to categorize Muslim feminists' methodological interventions that are aimed at advancing gender equality from within the tradition.1 I highlight four notable areas of intervention that have significantly contributed to this ongoing pursuit: intertextuality, intratextuality, fiqh (jurisprudence), and Sufi and philosophical texts. Intratextuality, as Amira Abou-Taleb, Omaima Abou-Bakr, Abla Hasan, and others describe it here, is the practice of comparing interconnected qurʾanic verses and terms, rather than interpreting them atomistically. It involves considering verses within the broader context of the Qurʾan's emphasis on promoting justice and equality for all humanity. Amira Abou-Taleb argues that iḥsān is at the core of the Qurʾan's moral worldview, emphasizing that justice is a crucial prerequisite for iḥsān. Gender justice, when viewed through the lens of iḥsān, becomes not only a fundamental societal objective but also an essential means to uphold the Qurʾan's moral framework. Similarly, Abla Hasan provides a contextual reappraisal of Q 4:34 using an intratextual approach. In her broader work, Celene Ibrahim looks at sexuality in the Qurʾan through a comprehensive analysis of narratives involving female figures.2 Another example is Hadia Mubarak's analysis of [End Page 59] male and female nushūz (rebellion) in Q 4:34 and Q 4:128.3 These scholars, and others, provide us with an invaluable female-centric lens through which to understand the Qurʾan's intratextuality.4 The second feminist methodological intervention is intertextuality. Intertextuality invites a reappraisal of qurʾanic meanings considering aḥādīth (oral narrations, Eng. hadith), sunna (the reported actions and behaviors of the Prophet Muḥammad), and asbāb al.nuzūl (the reported contexts for the revelation of specific qurʾanic verses). Fatema Mernissi is generally considered the first contemporary Muslim feminist to investigate the authenticity and authority of aḥādīth attributed to the Prophet Muḥammad about the issue of woman's leadership.5 Saʾdiyya Shaikh also studies the construction of gender in aḥādīth discussing women's knowledge and sexuality.6 Other attempts include Rawand Osman's study of female figures in Shiʿi aḥādīth, exegesis, and biographical literature.7 In this roundtable and elsewhere, Yasmin Amin examines the misapplication of hadith, specifically when it reinforces male privilege and undermines the Qurʾan's portrayal of egalitarian principles in marriage and gender relations. Rahel Fischbach also discusses the challenges and potential of using additional exegetical and narrative literature, alongside the Qurʾan, to foster gender-just interpretations. The third methodological intervention by Muslim feminists considers issues of fiqh. An example of this can be found in the insights of Hina Azam, who finds Islamic law to have two competing and sometimes overlapping concerns when it comes to sexual ethics: one is "propriety" and the other is "theocentric."8 Similar to Kecia Ali's analysis of the marriage contract, Azam observes that within the propriety framework, rape reduces a woman's sexuality to a commodity. In this system, rape is regarded as theft and is subject to monetary compensation, among other forms of retribution, but women's bodies are conceptually regarded as a commodity. However, if we privilege the theocentric understanding of sexual ethics, as Azam recommends, then illicit sex is immoral as an affront to God and to fellow human beings. In this way, and as Mulki Sharmani highlights in her contribution here, the textual work of Muslim scholars has serious implications for [End Page 60] relationships, marriage, and Islamic sexual ethics in lived contexts. Similarly, my recent book, Marital and Sexual Ethics in Islamic Law: Rethinking Temporary Marriage (2023), advances a four-dimensional approach to advancing theocentric fiqh: (1) taking seriously the works of Muslim feminists and the methodological approaches they have put forth to (re)evaluate sources; (2) incorporating lived Islam though socio-legal ethnography as a testament to the significance of living Muslims; (3) considering moral questions on the issue of sex and marriage; and (4) seriously weighing the scientific findings on human sexuality. The fourth and final methodological intervention involves texts outside...