Hazara Islamicus (Jun 2016)
Hermeneutical Models Proposed by Amina Wadud and Asma Barlas for the Exegesis of the Qur’an- An Analytical Overview
Abstract
Amina Wadud and Asma Barlas are among the few writers of our times who champion the cause of equality between men and women. They have produced numerous works and delivered many lectures related to the topic of women in Islam. The two writers, like other feministic' writers of their league, have criticized and rejected the methodology of traditional' Muslim scholars regarding the exegesis of the Qur'an and declared it to be the means by which the male exegetes have been able to produce misogynistic reading of the Qur'an. Subsequently, they claim to have reread the Qur'an from a woman's perspective and rid it of its patriarchal readings by proposing hermeneutical; models different from that of traditional scholars.4 First of all, this article briefly addresses a question in this regard: Whether these writers are justified in applying western hermeneutics to the study of Qur'an. Secondly, it critically analyzes the hermeneutical models proposed by the two writers and thirdly, whether these writers have succeeded in ridding the Scripture off its patriarchal readings as they claim to do.
