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A contextual approach on the views of Muslim feminists interpreters of the Qur'an regarding women and their rights in the society

The interpretation of the texts of the Qur’Én regarding the rights, role, and status of women is a challenge and much debatable subject. The Qur’Én is seen by almost all Muslims as the literal words of Allah (swt). The majority Muslim exegetes interpreted the verses of the Qur’Én by applying a met...

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Main Author: Ali, Md. Yousuf
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Language:English
Published: 2010
Subjects:
HQ1101 Women. Feminism
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/4179/1/p340.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/4179/
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spelling my.iium.irep.41792012-04-09T01:09:00Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/4179/ A contextual approach on the views of Muslim feminists interpreters of the Qur'an regarding women and their rights in the society Ali, Md. Yousuf HQ1101 Women. Feminism The interpretation of the texts of the Qur’Én regarding the rights, role, and status of women is a challenge and much debatable subject. The Qur’Én is seen by almost all Muslims as the literal words of Allah (swt). The majority Muslim exegetes interpreted the verses of the Qur’Én by applying a method of literal reading. In modern context, regarding women’s rights, Muslim feminist interpreters of the Qur’Én have applied a contextual approach with regard to the historical, social, and political context in which the verses were revealed in order to disclose an underlying liberal intent, which may liberate Muslims from a literal reading of the Qur’Én. However, feminists face a particular challenge and accusation from traditional Muslim exegetes. The accusation is that feminist scholarship is not loyal to the teachings of Islam and its heritage, but produces liberal Islam and liberal Shar’ÊÑah, influenced by the Western values and imposed upon Islam. The article focuses on how the method of contextualization is applied to some contentious verses in the Qur’Én, which are related to the rights, role and status of women in Islam. These verses represent the arguments at which feminists face a great challenge. Two questions on the basis of those verses will be examined; one is the question of men’s authority over women and the other is woman’s leadership in modern context. For instances, the contentious verse 4:34 recognizes man’s authority and superiority over woman for certain tasks and the verse 9:71 also recognizes the sovereign power of women ‘al-WilÉyah al-Mutlaqah’ equally in participating nation-building. We examine how two contemporary feminists Muslim thinkers; Fatima Mernissi, a Moroccan sociologist and Aminah Wadud Muhsin, an African- American professor of Islamic Studies use the hermeneutical method of contextual reading to interpret the texts of the Qur’Én. The article evaluates the theoretical and practical challenges faced by them from traditional exegetes and argues that whether such a methodology strengthens their arguments and a fuller discussion of the issues that it raises regarding woman’s rights? It is also argued that through the interpretation of the contextualization one may find difference with the previous interpretation of the Qur’Én, which is central to feminists exegesis. 2010 Conference or Workshop Item REM application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/4179/1/p340.pdf Ali, Md. Yousuf (2010) A contextual approach on the views of Muslim feminists interpreters of the Qur'an regarding women and their rights in the society. In: IIUM Research, Innovation & Invention Exhibition (IRIIE 2010), 26 - 27 January 2010, Kuala Lumpur.
institution Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia
building IIUM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider International Islamic University Malaysia
content_source IIUM Repository (IREP)
url_provider http://irep.iium.edu.my/
language English
topic HQ1101 Women. Feminism
spellingShingle HQ1101 Women. Feminism
Ali, Md. Yousuf
A contextual approach on the views of Muslim feminists interpreters of the Qur'an regarding women and their rights in the society
description The interpretation of the texts of the Qur’Én regarding the rights, role, and status of women is a challenge and much debatable subject. The Qur’Én is seen by almost all Muslims as the literal words of Allah (swt). The majority Muslim exegetes interpreted the verses of the Qur’Én by applying a method of literal reading. In modern context, regarding women’s rights, Muslim feminist interpreters of the Qur’Én have applied a contextual approach with regard to the historical, social, and political context in which the verses were revealed in order to disclose an underlying liberal intent, which may liberate Muslims from a literal reading of the Qur’Én. However, feminists face a particular challenge and accusation from traditional Muslim exegetes. The accusation is that feminist scholarship is not loyal to the teachings of Islam and its heritage, but produces liberal Islam and liberal Shar’ÊÑah, influenced by the Western values and imposed upon Islam. The article focuses on how the method of contextualization is applied to some contentious verses in the Qur’Én, which are related to the rights, role and status of women in Islam. These verses represent the arguments at which feminists face a great challenge. Two questions on the basis of those verses will be examined; one is the question of men’s authority over women and the other is woman’s leadership in modern context. For instances, the contentious verse 4:34 recognizes man’s authority and superiority over woman for certain tasks and the verse 9:71 also recognizes the sovereign power of women ‘al-WilÉyah al-Mutlaqah’ equally in participating nation-building. We examine how two contemporary feminists Muslim thinkers; Fatima Mernissi, a Moroccan sociologist and Aminah Wadud Muhsin, an African- American professor of Islamic Studies use the hermeneutical method of contextual reading to interpret the texts of the Qur’Én. The article evaluates the theoretical and practical challenges faced by them from traditional exegetes and argues that whether such a methodology strengthens their arguments and a fuller discussion of the issues that it raises regarding woman’s rights? It is also argued that through the interpretation of the contextualization one may find difference with the previous interpretation of the Qur’Én, which is central to feminists exegesis.
format Conference or Workshop Item
author Ali, Md. Yousuf
author_facet Ali, Md. Yousuf
author_sort Ali, Md. Yousuf
title A contextual approach on the views of Muslim feminists interpreters of the Qur'an regarding women and their rights in the society
title_short A contextual approach on the views of Muslim feminists interpreters of the Qur'an regarding women and their rights in the society
title_full A contextual approach on the views of Muslim feminists interpreters of the Qur'an regarding women and their rights in the society
title_fullStr A contextual approach on the views of Muslim feminists interpreters of the Qur'an regarding women and their rights in the society
title_full_unstemmed A contextual approach on the views of Muslim feminists interpreters of the Qur'an regarding women and their rights in the society
title_sort contextual approach on the views of muslim feminists interpreters of the qur'an regarding women and their rights in the society
publishDate 2010
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/4179/1/p340.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/4179/
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score 13.211869

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