The Effect of Gender on Quranic Exegesis (A Comparative Study of the views of Mujtahida Amin and Amina Wadud with Male Exegetes in Verses related to Women)

Abstract

A feminist reading is one of the types of readings of the Quran today. Some have considered the approach of interpretations to be patriarchal and a re-reading of the verses has led them to have divergent ideas with the intent to defend women’s rights as many of the exegeses have been written by men. The goal of this comparative-analytic article, which has been written based on documented sources, is to specify the effect of gender on the understanding of the exegetes. Thus, the views of two contemporary women exegetes (Bano Amin and Ms. Wadud) regarding the challenging verses that bring to mind the benefit of men and loss of women have been gathered and compared with the views of male exegetes. Since there is no definitive criterion to assess the effect of gender on the understanding of individuals, their understanding has been compared to each and other male exegetes. The difference in the understanding of the chosen exegetes despite being of the same gender and that there are always male exegetes who share their views in the common and differing instances shows that gender alone is not a factor in adopting a particular view among exegetes. As a result, gender is a relative matter and its effect on interpreters is different. Based on a multitude of instances where Ms. Wadud’s views were for and Bano Amin’s were against the apparent rights of women, it can be said that Makhzan al-ʿIrfān has less gender bias compared to Quran va Zan (Quran and Women).

Keywords

• amina wadud
• bano amin
• quran va zan (quran and women)
• the effect of gender on exegesis