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1 4 Amina Wadud -MuhsinQur'an and WomanMuslim s number more than 3 m illion In the United States and constitute one of thecountry 's fastest-grow ing religious groups. A frican-A mericans, com prising a third of thisIslam ic community-most of the rest are immigrants from Islam ic countries and theirdescendants-have traditionally practiced heterodox forms of Islam not recognized as"Islam ic" by M uslim scholars in other countries. S ince M alcolm X 's (1925-1965) famousp ilg rim ag e in 1964, how ever, m any A frican-A merican M uslim s have adopted m ore ortho-dox Islam ic practices. A t the sam e time, African-American M uslims have brought theirown historical experiences to bear on their Islam ic faith. I A leading representative of thisapproach is Amina W adud-M uhsin (United States, bom 1952), a professor at V irginiaCom monw ealth U niversity in R ichm ond, Virginia. W adud-M uhsin com bines genderedreadings of the Qur'an w ith the experience of A frican-American women to argue thatIslam ic injunctions m ust be interpreted in relation to specific historical circum stances.

Introduction: How Perceptionsof Woman Influence Interpretationof the Qur'anMy objective in undertaking this research was tomake a "reading" of the Qur'an that would be mean-ingful to women living in the modem era. By "read-

1. Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Jane I.Smith, MuslimCommunities in North America (Albany: State University ofNew York Press, 1994); Haddad and Smith, "United Statesof America," in John L. Esposito, editor, The Oxford Ency-clopedia of the Modern Islamic World (New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1995), volume 4, pp. 277-284; AminahBeverly McCloud, African American Islam (New York: Rout-ledge, 1995); Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, Competing Visions ofIslam in the United States (Westport, Conn.: GreenwoodPress,1997), especially pp. 126-131.

ing" Imean the process of reviewing the words andtheir context in order to derive an understanding ofthe text. Every "reading" reflects, in part, the inten-tions of the text, as well as the "prior text'? of theone who makes the "reading." Although each "read-ing" is unique, the understanding of various readersof a single text will converge on many points.

In this "Introduction" I will give the backgroundto this work. In particular, I will look at how the per-ception of woman influences the interpretations ofthe Qur 'an's position on women. I will give an over-view of my own perspective of woman and of the

2. The perpectives, circumstances, and background oftheindividual. This concept will be discussed at greater lengthbelow.

127

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128 Amina Wadud-Muhsinmethods of interpretation I used in analyzing theQur'an which have led to some new conclusions.

No method of Qur 'anic exegesis is fully objective.Each exegete makes some subjective choices. Somedetails of their interpretations reflect their subjec-tive choices and not necessarily the intent of thetext. Yet, often, no distinction is made between textand interpretation. I put interpretations of womanin the Qur 'an into three categories: "traditional,"reactive, and holistic.

The first category of Qur 'anic interpretation I call"traditional." Traditional tafasir (exegetical works)give interpretations of the entire Qur 'an, whetherfrom the modern or classical periods, with certainobjectives in mind. Those objectives could be legal,esoteric, grammatical, rhetorical, or historical. Al-though these objectives may lead to differences in thetafasir, one similarity in these works is their atomisticmethodology. They begin with the first verse of thefirst chapter and proceed to the second verse of thefirst chapter-one verse at a time-until the end ofthe Book. Little or no effort is made to recognizethemes and to discuss the relationship of the Qur 'anto itself, thematically. A brief mention of one verse'srelation to another verse may be rendered but theseare haphazard with no underlying hermeneuticalprinciple applied. A methodology for linking simi-lar Qur 'anic ideas, syntactical structures, principles,or themes together is almost non-existent.'

However, what concerns me most about "tradi-tional" tafasir is that they were exclusively writtenby males. This means that men and men's experi-ences were included and women and women's expe-riences were either excluded or interpreted throughthe male vision, perspective, desire, or needs ofwoman." In the final analysis, the creation of the basicparadigms through which we examine and discuss

3. One notable exception in English is Fazlur Rahman'sMajor Themes of the Qur'an (Chicago and Minneapolis:Bibliotheca Islamica, 1980). In addition, see Mustansir Mir,Thematic and Structural Coherence in the Qur'an: A Studyof lslahi' s Concept of Nazm (University of Michigan Micro-films International, 1987), which gives a comprehensiveanalysis of the significance of theme to Qur 'anic organiza-tion and, consequently, its exegesis.4. See Marjorie Procter-Smith, In Her Own Rite: Recon-structing Feminist Liturgical Tradition (Nashville, Tenn.:Abingdon Press, 1990), chapter I, pp. 13-35, on the sig-nificance of inclusion and exclusion of women in religiousdialogue.

the Qur'an and Qur'anic interpretation were gener-ated without the participation and firsthand represen-tation of women. Their voicelessness during criticalperiods of development in Qur 'anic interpretationhas not gone unnoticed, but it has been mistakenlyequated with voicelessness in the text itself.

The second category of Qur 'anic interpretationconcerned with the issue of woman consists prima-rily of modem scholars' reactions to severe handi-caps for woman as an individual and as a member ofsociety which have been attributed to the text. In thiscategory are many women and/or persons opposedto the Qur'anic message (or more precisely, to Islam)altogether. They use the poor status of women inMuslim societies as justification for their "reactions."These reactions have also failed to draw a distinctionbetween the interpretation and the text. 5

The objectives sought and methods used, oftencome from feminist ideals and rationales. Althoughthey are often concerned with valid issues, the ab-sence of a comprehensive analysis of the Qur'ansometimes causes them to vindicate the position ofwomen on grounds entirely incongruous with theQur'anic position on woman. This shortcoming mustbe overcome in order to make use of a most effec-tive tool for the liberation of Muslim women: dem-onstrating the link between that liberation and thisprimary source of Islamic ideology and theology.

The interpretations which reconsider the wholemethod of Qur 'anic exegesis with regard to variousmodern social, moral, economic, and political con-cerns-including the issue of woman-represent thefinal category. It is in this category that I place thiswork. This category is relatively new, and there hasbeen no substantial consideration of the particularissue of woman in the light of the entire Qur'an andits major principles.

I propose to make a "reading" of the Qur 'an fromwithin the female experience and without the stereo-types which have been the framework for many ofthe male interpretations. In the final analysis, thisreading will confront some of the conclusions drawnon this subject. Because I am analyzing the text and

5. For example, Fatna A[it] Sabbah in her book Womanin the Muslim Unconscious, translated by Mary Jo Lakelandfrom the French (New York: Pergamon Press, 1984), dis-cusses valid points with regard to this issue, but when shediscusses the Qur 'an, she fails to distinguish between theQur'an and the Qur'anic interpreters.

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not the interpretations of that text, my treatment ofthisissue differs from many of the existing works onthis topic.

Methodo logy : A H erm en eu tica l M o delA hermeneutical model is concerned with three as-pects of the text, in order to support its conclusions:(l) the context in which the text was written (in thecase of the Qur 'an, in which it was revealed); (2) thegrammatical composition of the text (how it sayswhat it says); and (3) the whole text, its Weltan-schauung or world-view. Often, differences of opin-ion can be traced to variations in emphasis betweenthese three aspects.

I argue against some conventional interpretations,especially about certain words used in the Qur'an todiscuss and fulfill universal guidance. I render somediscussions, heretofore considered as gendered, intoneutral terms. Other discussions, heretofore consid-ered as universal, I render specific on the basis oftheir limitations and on the expression in terms spe-cific to seventh-century Arabia. Some historical in-formation with regard to occasions of revelation andthe general period of revelation was considered here.

Thus, I attempt to use the method of Qur'anicinterpretation proposed by Faz1ur Rahman [Paki-stan-United States, 1919-1988]. He suggests that allQur'anic passages, revealed as they were in a spe-cific time in history and within certain general andparticular circumstances, were given expression rela-tive to those circumstances. However, the messageisnot limited to that time or those circumstances his-torically. A reader must understand the implicationsofthe Qur 'anic expressions during the time in whichtheywere expressed in order to determine their propermeaning. That meaning gives the intention of therulings or principles in the particular verse.

Believers from another circumstance must makepractical applications in accordance with how thatoriginal intention is reflected or manifested in thenew environments. In modem times this is what ismeant by the "spirit" of the Qur'an. To get at that"spirit," however, there must be some comprehen-sible and organized hermeneutical model. 6

6. For details of Fazlur Rahman's discussion of the abovedouble movement methodology-"from the present situationto Qur'anic times, then back to the present"-for particularcommunities, see his Islam and Modernity: Transformation

QUR'AN AND WOMAN 129

The initial question behind my research was, whydoes the Qur 'an specify males and females on someoccasions (like "Believing males and Believingfemales"-masculine plural followed by feminineplural forms), while on other occasions it uses a moregeneric ("Oh you who believe ... "-masculine plu-ral) form? From my perspective on the Qur 'an, everyusage of the masculine plural form is intended toinclude males and females, equally, unless it includesspecific indication for its exclusive application tomales.

The plural in Arabic is used to denote three ormore rational beings. Thus the following Arabicsentences:

A. Al-tullab fi al-ghurfa (masculine plural noun)means(1) three ormore students in the room-includ-ing at least one male(2) three or moreexclusively male studentsin the

room.B. Al-talibat fi al-ghurfa (feminine plural form)

means(1) three or more female students in the room.

As there is no form exclusively for males, theonly way to determine if the masculine plural form(al-tullab fi al-ghurfa [AD is exclusively for males(2) would be through some specific indication in thetext. Thus:

C. Al-tullab wa al-talibat ]i al-ghurfa indicates thatthe use of the masculine plural (al-tullab) refersexclusively to males since the inclusion of thefemale plural form distinguishes the female stu-dents present.7

All the verses which contained any reference towomen, separately or together with men, were ana-lyzed with the traditional method of tafsir al-Qur'anbi al-Qur'an (interpretation of the Qur 'an based onthe Quran itself). However, I elaborated these par-ticular terms of this method. Each verse was ana-lyzed: (1) in its context; (2) in the context of discus-sions on similar topics in the Qur'an; (3) in the lightof similar language and syntactical structures used

of an Intellectual Tradition (Chicago: University of ChicagoPress, 1982), Introduction, especially pp. 4-9,

7, This is a direct contradiction of the classical modelswhich propose that the masculine plural form means male(exclusively). Thus, language is used to make male the norm,and by implication, the female must be abnormal.

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130 Amina Wadud-Muhsinelsewhere in the Qur 'an; (4) in the light of overridingQur'anic principles; and (5) within the context of theQuranic Weltanschauung, or world-view.L an gu ag e a nd P rio r T extOne unique element for reading and understandingany text is the prior text of the individual reader: thelanguage and cultural context in which the text isread. It is inescapable and represents, on the onehand, the rich varieties that naturally occur betweenreaders, and, on the other hand, the uniqueness ofeach.

Prior text adds considerably to the perspective andconclusions of the interpretation. Itexposes the indi-viduality of the exegete. This is neither good nor badin and of itself. However, when one individual readerwith a particular world-view and specific prior textasserts that his or her reading is the only possible orpermissible one, it prevents readers in different con-texts from coming to terms with their own relation-ship to the text.

To avoid the potential of relativism, there is con-tinuity and permanence in the Qur 'anic text itself asexemplified even through various readings by theirpoints of convergence. However, in order for theQur'an to achieve its objective to act as a catalystaffecting behavior in society, each social contextmust understand the fundamental and unchangeableprinciples of that text, and then implement them intheir own unique reflection. It is not the text or itsprinciples that change, but the capacity and particu-larity of the understanding and reflection of the prin-ciples of the text within a community of people.

Thus, each individual reader interacts with thetext. However, the assertion that there is only oneinterpretation of the Qur'an limits the extent of thetext. The Qur 'an must be flexible enough to accom-modate innumerable cultural situations because ofits claims to be universally beneficial to those whobelieve.f Therefore, to force it to have a single cul-tural perspective---even the cultural perspective ofthe original community of the Prophet-severelylimits its application and contradicts the stated uni-versal purpose of the Book itself.

8. This is the Scripture wherein there is no doubt, a guid-ance unto those who ward off (evil), who believe in the un-seen, establish worship, and spend of that We have bestowedupon them .... (Sura 2, Verses 2-3)

T he P rio r T ex t o f Gen d er -S p ec if ic L a n gu a ge sThe significance of masculine and feminine forms,whether used distinctively or to make generic indi-cations, was an important part of my analysis. Per-spectives on gender, particularly on the understandingof what constitutes feminine or masculine behavior,and the roles ofmen and women in society, are basedon one's cultural context. Gender-specific languages,such as Arabic, create a particular prior text for thespeakers of that language. Everything is classifiedmale or female. English, Malay, and other languagesdo not share this prior text with Arabic. This resultsin a distinction between the various readings of theQur'an. This distinction becomes apparent in theinterpretation of the text and the conclusions drawnfrom the function of the text with regard to gender.

With regard toArabic, the language of the Qur 'an,I approach the text from the outside. This frees metomake observations which are not imprisoned in thecontext of a gender-distinct language.

There exists a very strong, but one-sided and thusuntrustworthy, idea that in order better to understanda foreign culture, one must enter into it, forgettingone's own, and view the world through the eyes ofthis foreign culture. This idea, asI have said, is one-sided.Of course, a certain entry as a livingbeing intoa foreign culture, the possibility of seeing the worldthrough its eyes, is a necessary part of the processof understanding it; but if this were the only aspectof this understanding, it would merely be duplicationand would not entail anything new or enriching.Creative understanding does not renounce itself, itsown place in time, its own culture; and it forgetsnothing. In order to understand, it is immenselyimportant for the person who understands to belocated outside the object of his or her creativeunderstanding-in time, in space, and in culture."(Emphasis mine.)A new look at Qur 'anic language with regard to

gender is especially necessary in the light of the ab-sence of an Arabic neuter. Although each word inArabic is designated asmasculine or feminine, it doesnot follow that each use of masculine or femininepersons is necessarily restricted to the mentionedgender-from the perspective of universal Qur 'anic

9. M. M. Bakhtin, Speech Genres and Other Late Essays,translated by Vern W. McGhee, edited by Caryl Emerson andMichael Holquist (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1986),pp.6-7.

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guidance. 10 A divine text must overcome the naturalrestrictions of the language of human communi-cation. Those who argue that the Qur'an cannot betranslated believe that there is some necessary cor-relation between Arabic and the message itself. I willdemonstrate that gender distinction, an inherent flaw,necessary for human communication in the Arabic,is overcome by the text in order to fulfill its inten-tion of universal guidance.

Perspec t i ve s on Wom e n"Most men have at one time or another heard, orperhaps even believed, that women are 'inferior'and 'unequal' to men."!' I worked against the back-drop of common prejudices and attitudes amongMuslims towards women which have not only af-fected the position of women in Muslim societiesbut also affected the interpretation of the positionof women in the Qur 'an. One such belief is that thereare essential distinctions between men and womenreflected in creation, capacity and function in society,accessibility to guidance (particularly to Qur'anicguidance), and in the rewards due to them in theHereafter.

Although there are distinctions between womenand men, I argue that they are not of their essentialnatures. More importantly, I argue against the val-ues that have been attributed to these distinctions.Such attributed values describe women as weak, in-ferior, inherently evil, intellectually incapable, andspiritually lacking. These evaluations have beenused to claim that women are unsuitable for per-forming certain tasks, or for functioning in someways in society.

The woman has been restricted to functions re-lated to her biology. The man, on the other hand, isevaluated as superior to and more significant thanwoman, an inherent leader and caretaker, with exten-

10. This recurrent problem in"reading" the Qur 'an causesreaders to justify limiting to women statements made usingfeminine forms and figures; see chapter 3 below concerningBilqis. [Not included in this excerpt.-Editor] Although sheis a good leader-that happens to be a woman-she is nottakenas a universal example of leadership. Statements usingmasculine forms or figures are limited to men and extendedto women only by qiyas (analytical reasoning).

11. Alvin J. Schmidt, Veiled and Silenced: How CultureShaped Sexist Theology (Macon,Ga.: Mercer University Press,1989), Introduction, p. xiii.

QUR'AN AND WOMAN 131

sive capacity to perform tasks that the woman can-not. Consequently, men are more human, enjoyingcompletely the choice of movement, employment,and social, political and economic participation onthe basis of human individuality, motivation, andopportunity This is actually an institutionalized com-pensation for the reverse situation.

Woman alone gives birth to children, nurses them, andis their primary nurturer in their early formative years.Moreover, the social and economic roles that com-monl y have been defined as the province of the malehave never been performed exclusively by men. Sub-consciously, men are aware of this fact. ... The malehas never had an exclusive social or economic rolethat woman could not participate in too. ...

Awareness of woman's monopoly was psycho-logically repressed and overshadowed by institution-alizing and socially legitimating male values that hadthe effect of creating self-fulfilling prophecies."(Emphasis mine.)

D istin ctio n s be tw een M en and W om enThe Qur'an acknowledges the anatomical distinctionbetween male and female. It also acknowledges thatmembers of each gender function in a manner whichreflects the well-defined distinctions held by the cul-ture to which those members belong. These distinc-tions are an important part of how cultures function.For this reason, it would be unwise if the Qur 'anfailed to acknowledge and, in fact, sympathize withculturally determined, functional distinctions.

As they are divided, so genders are also interwovendifferently in each culture and time. They can ruleseparate territories and rarely intertwine, or they canbe knotted like the lines in the Book of Kells. Some-times no basket can be plaited, no fire kindled, with-out the collaboration of two sets of hands. Each cul-ture brings the genders together in its unique way."The Qur'an does not attempt to annihilate the dif-

ferences between men and women or to erase thesignificance of functional gender distinctions whichhelp every society to run smoothly and fulfill itsneeds. In fact, compatible mutually supportive func-tional relationships between men and women can beseen as part of the goal of the Qur 'an with regard to

12. Schmidt, Veiled and Silenced, pp. 59-60.13. Ivan lllich, Gender (New York: Pantheon Books,

1982), pp. 106-107.

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132 Amina Wadud-Muhsinsociety.!" However, the Qur'an does not propose orsupport a singular role or single definition of a setof roles, exclusively, for each gender across everyculture.

The Qur'an acknowledges that men and womenfunction as individuals and in society. However,there is no detailed prescription set on how to func-tion, culturally. Such a specification would be animposition that would reduce the Quran from auniversal text to a culturally specific text-a claimthat many have erroneously made. What the Qur' anproposes is transcendental in time and space. IS

Gender distinctions and distinct gender functionscontribute to the perceptions of morally appropri-ate behavior in a given society. Since the Qur'an ismoral guidance, it must relate to the perceptions ofmorality-no matter how gender-specified-whichare held by individuals in various societies. Yet, themere fact that the Qur'an was revealed in seventh-century Arabia when the Arabs held certain percep-tions and misconceptions about women and wereinvolved in certain specific lewd practices againstthem resulted in some injunctions specific to thatculture.

Some prevailing practices were so bad they had tobe prohibited explicitly and immediately: infanticide,sexual abuse of slave girls, denial of inheritance towomen, ziharl? to name a few of the most common.Other practices had to be modified: polygamy, uncon-strained divorce, conjugal violence, and concubinage,for example. With regard to some practices, the Qur' anseems to have remained neutral: social patriarchy,marital patriarchy, economic hierarchy, the divisionof labor between males and females within a particu-larfamily.

14. See Sayyid Qutb [1903-1966], Fi zilal al-Qur'an [Inthe Shade of the Qur'anl (Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 1980), vol-ume 2 (of 6), pp. 642-643, where he discusses the sharedbeliefs and responsibility between men and women in theIslamic social system of justice.

15. Fazlur Rahman, Islam and Modernity, pp. 5-7, dis-cusses the moral values of the Qur 'an in "extra-historical tran-scendental" terms; that is, the moral value extracted froma particular verse goes beyond the time and place of thespecific instance at which that verse and its injunction wasoccasioned.

16. The practice of stating that one's wife was as "theback of my mother," which would make conjugal relationsimpossible, but would not totally free the woman forremarriage.

Some women activists today openly questionthis neutrality. Why didn't the Qur'an just explic-itly prohibit these practices? Ifthe evolution of thetext and its overall objective is consumed underone-albeit important-aspect of social interaction,say consciousness-raising with regard to women,then the Qur 'an is made subservient to that aspect,rather than the other way around. There is an essen-tial acknowledgment of the relationship between menand women as they function in society, but it is notthe sole nor primary objective of the text.

In addition, certain practices encouraged by theQur 'an may be restricted to that society which prac-ticed them, but the Qur 'an is "not confined to, orexhausted by, (one) society and its history .... "17Therefore, each new Islamic society must understandthe principles intended by the particulars. Those prin-ciples are eternal and can be applied in various so-cial contexts.

For example, in Arabia at the time of the revela-tion, women of wealthy and powerful tribes wereveiled and secluded as an indication of protection.The Qur 'an acknowledges the virtue of modesty anddemonstrates it through the prevailing practices. Theprinciple of modesty is important-not the veilingand seclusion which were manifestations particularto that context. These were culturally and economi-cally determined demonstrations of modesty .18 Mod-esty isnot a privilege of the economically advantagedonly: all believing women deserve the utmost respectand protection of their modesty-however it is ob-served in various societies.

Modesty is beneficial for maintaining a certainmoral fiber in various cultures and should therefore bemaintained-but on the basis of faith: not economics,politics or other forms of access and coercion. Thisis perhaps why Yusuf Ali [1872-1952] translatesSura 24, Verse 31 "what (must ordinarily) appear'"?(with regard to uncovered parts), to indicate that(ordinarily) there are culturally determined guide-lines for modesty.

17. Wan Mohd. Nor Wan Daud, The Concept of Knowl-edge in Islam and Its Implications for Education in a Devel-oping Country (London: Mansell, 1989), p. 7.

18. See William Robertson Smith, Kinship and Marriagein Early Arabia, edited by Stanley A. Cook (London: A. andC. Black, 1907).

19. Translation by A. Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Text,Translation, and Commentary, U.S. edition (Elmhurst , N.Y.:Tahrike Tarsile Qur 'an, 1987).

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This method of restricting the particulars to a spe-cific context, extracting the principles intended by theQur'an through that particular, and then applyingthose principles to other particulars in various cul-tural contexts, forms a major variation from previousexegetical methodologies. The movement from prin-ciples to particulars can only be done by the mem-bers of whatever particular context a principle is tobe applied. Therefore, interpretation of the Qur 'ancan never be final. ...

Rights and Roles of Women: SomeControversies

W om an Is N ot Ju st B io log yBecause woman's primary distinction is on the basisof her childbearing ability, it is seen as her primaryfunction. The use of "primary" has had negative con-notations in that it has been held to imply that womencan only be mothers. Therefore, women's entire up-bringing must be to cultivate devoted wives and idealmothers in preparation for this function.

There is no term in the Qur 'an which indicates thatchildbearing is "primary" to a woman. No indica-tion is given that mothering is her exclusive role.It demonstrates the fact that a woman (though cer-tainly not all women) is the exclusive human ca-pable of bearing children. This capacity is essentialto the continuation of human existence. This func-tion becomes primary only with regard to the con-tinuity of the human race. In other words, since onlythe woman can bear children, it is of primary im-portance that she does.

Although it does not restrict the female to func-tioning as a mother, the Qur 'an is emphatic about thereverence, sympathy, and responsibility due to thefemale procreator. "0 humankind ... have taqwa-?towards God in Whom you claim your rights of oneanother, and (have taqwa) towards the wombs (thatbore you)." (Sura 4, Verse 1)This verse is often inter-preted as indicating respect for women in general. 21I specify this verse as indicating respect for the neededprocreative capacity of women. I do not diminish

20. [Fear of God.-Editor)21. It should not be overlooked in my literal interpreta-tion, that "the wombs that bore you" is also used as a meta-

phor for the blood ties of family relations in general.

QUR'AN AND WOMAN

respect from women as a class, but I do specify, fromthe Qur 'anic perspective, the significance of the func-tion of child-bearing, which is exclusively performedby wornen.P The reverence given to the fulfillmentof this function helps explain how the Qur 'an explic-itly delineates a function for males which creates abalance in human relations.P

No other function is similarly exclusive to onegender or the other. This brings to mind the popu-lar misconception that since only males have hadthe responsibility of risala, 24 it indicates somethingspecial about that class. Both men and women havebeen included in divine communication as the reci-pients of wahy,25 but there is no Qur'anic exampleof a woman with the responsibility of risala. How-ever, all those chosen for this responsibility wereexceptional.

This is not a biological association with malesrepresenting their primary function and expressinga universal norm for all men. In fact, given the diffi-culty they have faced in getting others to accept themessage when these exceptional men have comefrom poor classes, the likelihood of failure for themessage might have been greater if women, who aregiven so little regard in most societies, were selectedto deliver the message. Itis strategy for effectiveness,not a statement of divine preference."Besides the two functions discussed above, everyother function has real or potential participation byboth males and females. However, there is still awide range of functional distinctions between indi-viduals considered in the Quran. The questionsthat must be asked then are: What is the value ofthe functional distinctions between individuals? Dothese functional distinctions and the values placedon them delineate specific values for males and fe-males in society? Are these values intra-Quranic orextra-Qur 'anic?

22. To further substantiate this point of view, see thediscussion of Mary, Mother of Jesus, in chapter 2. [Not in-cluded in this excerpt.-Editor]

23. Which I will discuss in detail below.24. There is a distinction between wahy; receiving divine

communication, and risala, receiving divine communicationconcerning the destiny of humankind, which includes theobligation to transmit the information of that wahy to human-kind at large.

25. Maryam [Mary, the mother of Jesus) and Umm Musa[the mother of Moses) among the women.26. See, for example, Sura 22, Verse 75.

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134 Amina Wadud-MuhsinIn particular, several verses from the Qur'an have

frequently been used to support the claims of theinherent superiority of males over females. Theseverses contain two terms which have been used toindicate value in the functional distinctions betweenindividuals and groups on earth. I will review theseterms, how they have been used in the Qur 'an, andin the overall context of Qur 'anic justice.

The first term is daraja (plural: darajat), "step,degree or level." A daraja exists not only on earthbetween people but also between the Hereafter andearth.s? between levels in Heaven and in Hell. Theother term, faddala, is often used in conjunction withdarajat. I have translatedfaddala "to prefer," with averbal noun (tafdil) meaning "preference." Often thepreference given is spoken of in terms of fadl, whichI translate as (God's) "benevolence."

DorojoAn individual or group can earn or be granted adaraja over another. The Qur'an specifies, for ex-ample, that by striving in the way of God with one'swealth and one's person (Sura 4, Verse 95) or byimmigrating for God (Sura 9, Verse 20), one canobtain a daraja. However, most often the daraja isobtained through an unspecified category of doing"good" deeds (Suras 20, Verse 75; 6, Verse 132; 46,Verse 19).

Distinguishing between individuals or groups onthe basis of "deeds" involves problems with regard tothe value of women in society and as individuals. Al-though the Qur 'an distinguishes on the basis of deeds,it does not set values for particular deeds. This leaveseach social system to determine the value of differentkinds of deeds at will. They have always done this and"every society has distinguished men's work fromwomen's work."28 The problem is that "Men's workis usually regarded as more valuable than women'swork, no matter how arbitrary the division of labor.Y?

On the one hand, the Qur 'an supports distinctionson the basis of deeds, but on the other hand, it does

27. "See how We prefer one above another, and verilythe Hereafter will be greater in darajat and greater in prefer-ence [ta/dil)." (Sura 17, Verse 21) [Bracketed terms in Qur'anicquotations are the author's , not the editor's.-Editor)

28. Carol Tarvis and Carole Wade, The Longest War: SexDifferences in Perspective, second edition (Orlando, Fl.: Har-court Brace Jovanovich, 1984), p. 3.

29. Tarvis and Wade, The Longest War, p. 20.

not determine the actual value of specific deeds. Thisleads to the interpretation that the Qur 'an supportsvalues of deeds as determined by individual societies.Actually, the Qur'an's neutrality allows for the natu-ral variations that exist.

With regard to the daraja obtained through deeds,however, the Qur 'an has stipulated several pointswhich should affect evaluation in society. First, alldeeds performed with taqwa are more valuable. Sec-ond, "Unto men a fortune from that which they haveearned and unto women a fortune from that whichthey have earned." (Sura 4, Verse 32) The deeds maybe different, but recompense is given based on whatone does. Itdoes not matter how the deeds are dividedbetween the males and the females in a particularsocial context.

Another implication of a "fortune from what oneearns" is that whenever anyone performs tasks nor-mally attributed to the other gender in addition tohis or her own normal tasks, he or she will earn anadditional reward. For example, Moses meets twowomen from Madyan, where ordinarily the malestended the animals. However, because there wasno able-bodied male in the family to perform thistask according to the norm (the father being an oldman), the women were required to be extraordi-narily useful.

There is no indication that these women wereimmoral in their performance of this task, becausefulfilling the tasks needed for survival takes prece-dence over socially determined roles. Similarly, inpost-slavery America, the Black female was givenemployment instead of the Black male. In many fami-lies, she became the sole supporter. This necessity,in addition to her fulfillment of the ordinary tasks ofbearing and rearing children, should have given hermore. A flexible perspective on the fulfillment ofnecessity would have benefited her. Instead, she wassubject to a double burden and, often, violence athome from a husband who felt displaced.

Each social context divides the labor between themale and the female in such a way as to allow for theoptimal function ofthat society. The Qur 'an does notdivide the labor and establish a monolithic order forevery social system which completely disregards thenatural variations in society. On the contrary, it ac-knowledges the need for variations when it states thatthe human race is divided "into nations and tribes thatyou might know one another." (Sura 49, Verse 13)Then it gives each group, and each member of the

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group--the males and the females-recompense inaccordance to deeds performed.

This is an important social universal in the Qur'an.Itallows and encourages each individual social contexttodetermine its functional distinctions between mem-bers, but applies a single system of equitable recom-pense which can be adopted in every social context.Thisis also one reason why certain social systems haveremained stagnant in their consideration of the poten-tialroles of women. The Qur'an does not specificallydetermine the roles, and the individual nations havenot considered all the possibilities.

As for the daraja which is "given" by God, it iseven more illusive than the daraja for unspecifieddeeds. There is a distinction on the basis of knowl-edge: "God will exalt those who believe amongyou, and those who have knowledge, to high ranks[darajat]." (Sura 58, Verse 11)"We raised by grades[darajat] (of mercy) whom We will, and over allendued with knowledge there is one more knowing."(Sura 12, Verse 76)

There are also social and economic distinctions:"We have apportioned among them their livelihoodin the life of the world, and raised some of themabove others in ranks [darajat] that some of themmay take labor from others; and the mercy of God isbetter than (the wealth) that they amass." (Sura 43,Verse 32)30 It is also clear, however, that wealth isnot a "real" distinguishing characteristic, but a func-tional distinction apparent to humankind and valuedwithin society.

The daraja given by God serves another signifi-cant function-to test the inhabitants of the earth:"He it is Who has placed you as viceroys of the earthandhas exalted some of you in ranks [darajat] aboveothers,that He may try you by (the test of) that whichHe has given you." (Sura 6, Verse 165)

Finally, it is necessary to discuss the one versewhich distinguishes a daraja between men andwomen:

Women who are divorced shall wait, keeping them-selves apart, three (monthly) courses. And it is notlawfulfor them that they conceal that which God hascreated in their wombs if they believe in God andthe Last Day. And their husbands would do bettertotake them back in that case if they desire a recon-ciliation. And [(the rights) due to the women are30. This is one of the verses which demonstrates that an

Islamic society allows for economic classes.

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similar to (the rights) against them, (or respon-sibilities they owe) with regard to] the rna' ruf, andmen have a degree [daraja] above them (feminineplural). God is Mighty, Wise. (Sura 2, Verse 228)

This verse has been taken to mean that a daraja ex-ists between all men and all women, in every con-text. However, the context of the discussion is clearlywith regard to divorce: men have an advantage overwomen. In the Qur'an the advantage men have isthat of being individually able to pronounce divorceagainst their wives without arbitration or assistance.Divorce is granted to a woman, on the other hand,only after intervention of an authority (for example,a judge).

Considering the details given, daraja in this versemust be restricted to the subject at hand." To at-tribute an unrestricted value to one gender over an-other contradicts the equity established throughoutthe Qur 'an with regard to the individual: each nafs[soul] shall have in accordance to what it earns. Yet,the verse is presumed to state what men have believedand wanted others to believe: that society operateshierarchically with the male on top. Finally, this versestates: "[(the rights) due to the women are similar to(the rights) against them, (or responsibilities theyowe) with regard to] the ma'ruf". The term ma'rufoccurs in other instances with regard to the treatmentofwomen in society. [Muhammad Marmaduke] Pick-thall [Britain, 1875-1936] translates it as "kindness,"but its implications are much wider than that. It is apassive participle of the verbal root "to know," andas such indicates something "obvious," "well known,"or "conventionally accepted.t'P However, with re-gard to treatment, it also has dimensions of equitable,courteous and beneficial. 33

In this verse (Sura 2, Verse 228), it precedes thedaraja statement to indicate its precedence. In otherwords, the basis for equitable treatment is conven-tionally agreed upon in society. With regard to this,the rights and the responsibilities of the woman andthe man are the same. Again, the expression places

31. In addition, the preceding verses 221-227 discuss atlength other details related to marriage, divorce, and widow-hood.

32. Edward William Lane, An Arab-English Lexicon (Lon-don: Librairie du Liban, 1980), part 5, p. 2017.

33. As defined by Milton J. Cowan, A Dictionary of Mod-ern Written Arabic, third edition, edited by Hans Wehr (Ithaca,N.Y.: Spoken Language Services, 1976).

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I,

,

136 Amina Wadud-Muhsina limitation rather than a universal perspective on thisissue because convention is relative to time and place.

FoddofoAs with daraja, the Qur 'an states explicitly that Godhas preferred rJaddala] some of creation over others.Like daraja, this preference is also discussed in spe-cific terms. First, humankind ispreferred over the restof creation (Sura 17, Verse 70). Then, occasionally,one group of people have been preferred over an-other.>' Finally, some of the prophets are preferredover others (Suras 2, Verse 253; 6, Verse 86; 17,Verse 55). It is interesting to note, however, that"preference" is not absolute. Although the Qur 'anstates that some prophets are preferred over others,it also states that no distinction is made betweenthem (Sura 2, Verse 285). This indicates that, in theQur 'anic usage, preference is relative.

Like daraja,faddala is also given to test the oneto whom it is given. Unlikedaraja, however, faddalacannot be earned by performing certain deeds. Itcanonly be given by God, Who has it and grants it towhom He wishes and in the form He wishes. Othersdo not have it and cannot give it. They can only berecipients of His fadl.

With regard tofaddala, men and women, the fol-lowing verse is central:

Men are [qawwamuna 'ala] women, [on the basis]of what God has [preferred] (faddala) someof themover others, and [on the basis] of what they spendof their property (for the support of women). Sogood women are [qanitat],35 guarding in secret thatwhich God has guarded. As for those from whomyou fear [nushuz], admonish them, banish them tobeds apart, and scourge them. Then, if they obeyyou, seek not a way against them. (Sura 4,Verse 34)Needless to say, this verse covers a great deal

more than just preference. This is classically viewedas the single most important verse with regard to therelationship between men and women: "men areqawwarnuna 'ala women." Before discussing this,

34. For example, the Children of Israel were preferredover "other creatures" (the same term has been translated inchapter 1, the Fatiha, as "the worlds") in Sura 2, Verses 47and 122; and Sura 7, Verse 40. This preference is usuallyunderstood to mean that they were chosen to receive proph-ets and the revelations.

35. [Obedient.-Editorl

however, I want to point out that this correlationis determined on the basis of two things: (l) what"preference" has been given, and (2) "what theyspend of their property (for support of women)," thatis, a socioeconomic norm and ideal.

The translation I have inserted, "on the basis of,"comes from the hi36 used in this verse. In a sentence,it implies that the characteristics or contents beforehi are determined "on the basis" of what comes afterhi. In this verse it means that men are qawwarnuna'ala women only if the following two conditionsexist. The first condition is "preference," and theother is that they support the women from their means."If either condition fails, then the man is not' qaw-warn' over that woman.">?

My first concern then is faddala. The verse saysthe position between men and women is based on"what" God has preferred. With regard to materialpreference, there is only one Quranic referencewhich specifies that God has determined for men aportion greater than for women: inheritance." Theshare for a male is twice that for the female (Sura 4,Verse 7) within a single family. The absolute inher-itance for all men will not always be more than thatfor all women. The exact amount left depends onthe family's wealth in the first place. In addition, ifSura 4, Verse 34 refers to a preference demonstratedin inheritance, then such a materialistic preference isalso not absolute. This connection is often favoredbecause the other condition for qiwarna is that "theyspend of their property (for the support of women)."Thus, there is a reciprocity between privileges andresponsibilities. Men have the responsibility of pay-ing out of their wealth for the support of women, andthey are consequently granted a double share ofinheritance.

However, it cannot be overlooked that "many meninterpret the above passage" as an unconditionalindication of the preference of men over women.They assert that "men were created by God superiorto women (in strength and reason)."

36. This is the ba al-sababiyya known in Arabic as thebi for a reason or purpose. It establishes a conditional rela-tionship between two parts of a sentence or clause. The firstpart is conditional upon, and cannot be attributed without,the second part.37. Azizah al-Hibri, "A Study of Islamic Herstory: OrHow Did We Ever Get into This Mess?" Women and Islam:Women's Studies International Forum, volume 5, number 2,1982, p. 218.

38. Which I will discuss in detail below.

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However, this interpretation ... is (i) unwarrantedand(ii) inconsistent with other Islamic teachings....[Tjhe interpretation is unwarranted because thereis no reference in the passage to male physical orintellectual superiority.39Faddala cannot be unconditional because Sura 4,

Verse 34 does not read "they (masculine plural) arepreferred over them (feminine plural). " Itreads" ba 'd(some)of them over ba'd (others)." The use of ba'drelates to what obviously has been observed in thehuman context. All men do not excel over all womenin all manners. Some men excel over some womeninsomemanners. Likewise, some women excel oversomemen in some manners.f So, whatever God haspreferred, it is still not absolute.

If"what" God has preferred is restricted to thematerial (and specifically inheritance), then theextent and nature of the preference is explainedby the Qur'an. Even if "what" God has preferredis more than just the preference given in inherit-ance, it is, nevertheless, still restricted to "some ofthem" over "some others" by the wording in thiscontext:

Menare "qawwamun" over women inmatterswhereGod gave some of the men more than some of thewomen, and in what the men spend of their money,thenclearly men as a class are not "qawwamun" overwomen as a class,"However, further understanding of this distinc-

tion requires further explanation of qawwamuna'ala.What does it mean, and what are the parametersof its application?

As for the meaning, Pickthall translates this as "inchargeof." [Abu'I Qasim Mahmud] Al-Zamakhshari[1075-1144]42 says it means that "men are in chargeofthe affairs of women." [AbulA'la] Mawdudi [1903-

39. AI-Hibri, "A Study of Islamic Herstory," pp. 217-218.

40. I have translated ba ' d in its usual meaning of "some"or "a portion of." However, there is also usage of ba'd plusmasculine plural noun plus ba'd, which means "each other"with no particular number or gender implied. In other words,a degree of vagueness surrounds this statement. It could alsomean women have a preference over men.

41. AI-Hibri, "A Study of Islamic Herstory," p. 218.42. Al-Kashshaf 'an haqa' iq al-tanzi l wa 'uyun al-aqawil

fi wujuh al-ta' wil [The Revealer of the True Meanings of theRevelation and Select Opinions concerning Interpretationsof the Text] (Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Ma 'arif, no date), vol-ume 1 (of 4), p. 523.

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1979]43 says, "Men are the managers of the affairsof women because God has made the one superiorto the other. ... " Azizah al-Hibri [Lebanon, born1943] objects to any translation which implies thatmen are protectors or maintainers because "the basicnotion here is one of moral guidance and caring?"and also because:

only under extreme conditions (for example, in-sanity) does the Muslim woman lose her right toself-determination .... Yet men have used thispassage to exercise absolute authority overwomen.They also use it to argue for the male's divinelyordained and inherent superiority. 45Some questions beg asking concerning the param-

eters of application: Are all men qawwamuna 'alaall women? Is it restricted to the family, such that themen of a family are qawwamuna 'ala the womenof that family? Or, is it even more restricted, to themarital tie such that only husbands are qawwamuna'ala wives? All of these possibilities have been given.

Generally, an individual scholar" who considersfaddala an unconditional preference of males overfemales does not restrict qiwama to the family rela-tionship but applies it to society at large. Men, thesuperior beings, are qawwamuna 'ala women, thedependent, inferior beings.

Sayyid Qutb,"? whose discussion I will considerat length, considers qiwama an issue of concern forthe family within society. He restricts Sura 4, Verse34, in some ways, then, to the relationship betweenthe husband and the wife. He believes that provid-ing for the females gives the male the privilege ofbeing qawwamuna 'ala the female.

He gives qiwama a decided dimension of mate-rial maintenance. The rationale behind restricting thisverse to the context of husband and wife is partly dueto the fact that the remainder of the verse discussesother details of concern to the marital relationship.

43. Al-Kashshaf, volume 2, p. 117.44. AI-Hibri, "A Study of Islamic Herstory," p. 217.45. AI-Hibri, "A Study of Islamic Herstory," p. 218.46. For example, I would include Pickthall because he

translates this passage as unrestricted "men are in charge ofwomen." AI-Zamakhshari, in Al-Kashshaf, volume 1, p. 523,states the terms he believes of God's preference of menover women. 'Abbas Mahmud AI-'Aqqad [1889-1964],AI-Mar'afi al-Qur'an [Woman in the Qur'an] (Cairo: Daral-Hilal, 1962), p. 7, states the same. Finally, Mawdudi inter-prets it this way.47. AI-Kashshaf, volume 2, pp. 648-653.

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138 Amina Wadud-MuhsinIn addition, the following verse uses the dual, indi-cating that it is concerned with the context betweenthe two: the husband and wife. However, precedingverses discuss terms of relations between male mem-bers of society and female members of society.

I apply this verse to society at large but not on thebasis of inherent superiority of men over women, orof God's preference of men over women. Rather, Iextend the functional relationship which Sayyid Qutbproposes between the husband and the wife towardsthe collective good concerning the relationship be-tween men and women in society at large. My mainconsideration is the responsibility and right ofwomento bear children.Sayyid Qutb says, "The man and the woman areboth from God's creation and God ... never intendsto oppress anyone from His creation. "48 Both the manand the woman are members of the most significantinstitution of society, the family. The family is initi-ated by marriage between one man and one woman.Within the family, each member has certain respon-sibilities. For obvious biological reasons, a primaryresponsibility for the woman is childbearing.

The child-bearing responsibility is of grave impor-tance: human existence depends upon it. This respon-sibility requires a great deal of physical strength,stamina, intelligence, and deep personal commit-ment.f Yet, while this responsibility is so obviousand important, what is the responsibility of the malein this family and society at large? For simple bal-ance and justice in creation, and to avoid oppression,his responsibility must be equally significant to thecontinuation of the human race. The Qur 'an estab-lishes his responsibility as qiwama: seeing to it thatthe woman is not burdened with additional respon-sibilities which jeopardize that primary demandingresponsibility that only she can fulfill.

Ideally, everything she needs to fulfill her primaryresponsibility comfortably should be supplied insociety, by the male: this means physical protection

48. Qutb, Fi zilal al-Qur'an, volume 2, p. 650.49. Qutb, Fi zilal al-Qur'an, volume 2, p. 650.

as well as material sustenance. Otherwise, "it wouldbe a serious oppression against the woman. "50

This ideal scenario establishes an equitable andmutually dependent relationship. However, it doesnot allow for many of today's realities. What hap-pens in societies experiencing a population overload,such as China and India? What happens in capitalis-tic societies like America, where a single income isno longer sufficient to maintain a reasonably com-fortable life-style? What happens when a woman isbarren? Does she still deserve qiwama like otherwomen? What happens to the balance of responsi-bility when the man cannot provide materially, aswasoften the case during slavery and post-slavery U.S.?All of these issues cannot be resolved if we looknarrowly at verse Sura 4, Verse 34. Therefore, theQur 'an must eternally be reviewed with regard tohuman exchange and mutual responsibility betweenmales and females. This verse establishes an idealobligation for men with regard to women to create abalanced and shared society. This responsibility isneither biological nor inherent, but it is valuable. Anattitude inclined towards responsibility must be cul-tivated. It is easy enough to see the cases in which ithas not been acquired.

However, such an attitude should not be restrictedto mere material qiwama. In broader terms, it shouldapply to the spiritual, moral, intellectual, and psycho-logical dimensions as well. Such a perspective onqiwama will allow men to truly fulfill their khilafa(trusteeship) on the earth, as ordained by God uponhuman creation. Such an attitude will overcome thecompetitive and hierarchical thinking which destroysrather than nurtures.

Men are encouraged to fulfill their trusteeship ofthe earth-especially in relationships with women,the child-bearers and traditional caretakers. Whatwomen have learned through bearing and caring forchildren, men can begin to experience, starting withtheir attitudes to and treatment of women.

50. Qutb, Fi zilal al-Qur'an, volume 2, p. 650.