Concepts of Gender Equality in Islam: Human Creation and the Story of Paradise - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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This series of articles will present two opposite ideas of gender equality in Islam. First, we will explore the idea of Morteza Motahhari, a renown Iranian scholar, from his work “Woman and Her Rights in Islam”. Second, we will look into the idea of Amina Wadud, an African-American Islamic scholar, from her work “Qur’an and Women”.

In Motahhari’s view, modern feminism and western concept of woman’s rights are schemes of a male dominated capitalist world. For Motahhari, capitalists seek to oppress woman, make woman unequal to man, and deny woman rights protected by Islam. In Wadud’s view, Islam and modern notion of gender equality are perfectly compatible. For Wadud, the word of god is not gender biased, the human languages, our only means of understanding the word of god, are.

In this article, we will discuss Islam and gender equality in an aspect of human creation and the story of paradise. Looking into the origin of how man and woman are created will give us some clues of what Islam fundamentally believes about gender equality.

Motahhari on Human Creation in the Quran

According to Motahhari, in the Bible, God created Adam, a man, first, then he created Eve, a woman, from a rib of Adam. After Eve was created, Satan seduced Eve into sin, then Eve misled Adam into sin. This story implies that woman is inferior to man and it is woman who lures man into sin. However, verses on human creation and the story of paradise in the Quran is different.

This is what the Quran says about human creation.

“Allah made all of you from one being, and from that being, he made its mate…” (4: 1)[1]

This is what the Quran says about the story of paradise when the serpent misled Adam and Eve.

“Then the Satan made a suggestion to them. Then he led them on with guile. He swore to them. I am a sincere advisor to you (both).” (7: 20-21)[2]

According to Motahhari, Quranic verses on human creation and the story of paradise imply that Islam fundamentally believes in gender equality. Man and woman, in the Quran, are created simultaneously. Man was not misled by a woman who had been seduced by Satan. In the Quran, Satan seduced both man and woman at the same time.

Wadud on Human Creation in the Quran

For Amina Wadud, the full details the creation and the supernatural are beyond human language and comprehension. Yet, all that we have with which to discuss these matter is the human language.[3] Therefore, Wadud mainly discussed the use of language in order to understand human creation in the Qur’an. Her approach is to examine our limited tools, used to attain the unattainable.

This is her translation of the Quranic verse on the origin of humankind.

“And min His ayat (is this: ) that He created You (humankind) min a single nafs, and created min (that nafs) its zawj, and from these two He spread (through the earth) countless men and women.” (4: 1)[4]

To aid our understanding of the verse, Wadud looks into the four key terms: ayat, min, nafs, and zawj.[5] My shorter and simplified versions of Wadud’s exploration with these words will not do her work justice.

AYAH

An ayah (ayat in plural form) is a sign which indicates that there is something more than what we can perceived. For example, “a tree, in common understanding, is only a tree. In true understanding, a tree is an ayah which reflects the presence of Allah… The known world is made of non-linguistic ayat, including our own creation.”[6]

MIN

Min has primarily two meanings in Arabic. It can be used as English preposition “from”, implying extraction of one thing from the other.[7] It can also mean “of the same nature as”. The verse (4: 1) has been interpreted with one or both meanings of min and the result varies.[8]

NAFS

Nafs (anfus in plural form) means self or soul. The word refers to common and singular origin of humankind. The Qur’an does not refer the origin of human race with Adam. It does not state that the creation began with nafs of Adam. The creation does not express in gender terms.[9]

ZAWJ

Zawj (azawj in plural form) means mate or spouse. Grammatically, the word is masculine, but conceptually it is neither masculine or feminine and it is also used for plants and animals.[10] Wadud pointed out that there is a concept of dualism of the creation in Islam. From night and day to man and woman, God created things in pairs.

So, what we know of the creation is that the was nafs and zawj of that nafs. A soul and its mate was created. The words are gender neutral.

Wadud also noted that in the story of paradise the Qur’an uses Arabic dual form to tell how Satan tempted both Adam and Eve at the same time. Maintaining this dual form, the Qur’an overcomes the implications of older traditions that women are the cause of evil.[11]

Conclusion

The Iranian and the African-American scholars shared a common interpretation on human creation and the story of paradise that man and woman were created equal from one being or soul. Man and woman were also equally responsible for the original sin. Differences of the two scholars, however, arose from the question of how the gender equality should be manifested in reality.

For Motahhari, man and woman are equal, but not similar. Promoting similarity between man and woman will undermine gender equality. For Wadud, using a gender biased language, the only tool that we have in the Seen World, to understand the Unseen World has led many interpreters to pick up gender biased aspects from the holy text. If we can better understand how the language is gender biased, we can move closer to the gender neutral nature of the unattainable. The gender neutral nature of the holy text, in Wadud’s argument, is compatible with the modern concept of gender equality.

We will discuss more on how the gender equality from the time of creation should be displayed in reality in the next article on individualism, rights, and gender roles. If I miss out on any key concept or if there are other scholars or school of thoughts that should not be left out in this debate, let me know.

Articles in this series

Concepts of Gender Equality in Islam(2): Motahhari’s View on Social Independence of Women

Concepts of Gender Equality in Islam(3): Wadud’s View on Individualism, Rights, and Gender Roles of Women

[1] Morteza Motahhari, Woman and Her Rights in Islam, translated by M.A. Ansari (Islamic Seminary Publications), 34.

[2] Ibid, 35.

[3] Amina Wadud, Qur’an and Women: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s Perspective (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 16.

[4] Ibid, 17.

[5] Ibid, 17.

[6] Ibid, 18.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid, 19-20.

[10] Ibid, 20.

[11] Ibid, 25.

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