Hawwa/f6_316-336 11/24/04 11:21 AM Page 316

QUR"ÀN, GENDER AND INTERPRETIVE POSSIBILITIES

AMINA WADUD
Virginia Commonwealth University

Abstract

Verily All men and women who have surrender themselves unto Allah
and all believing men and believing women and all truly devout men and
devout women, and all men and women who are true to their word and
all men and women who are patient in adversity and all men and women
who humble themselves before Allah and all men and women who give
in charity and all self-denying men and all self-denying women and all
men and women who remember Allah unceasingly, for all of them has
Allah readied forgiveness of sins and a mighty reward. (Q 33:35)

On Thanksgiving Day 1972, I made the shahàdah: the liturgical pro-

nouncement for one who commits to Islam as a religion, a spiri-
tual system and a complete way of life. Although this act is intended
to mark the entry into Islam, I would only begin to experience my
full embrace of the religion the following spring when I was gifted
with a copy of the Qur"àn. Although this gift was quite coinci-
dental, it was my start on the path to the doorway home.
I still travel on this journey of life and faith towards the meeting
with my Lord. Along the way I arrive at many small or large
epiphanies or adventures that leave stories behind; stories that need
to be told. After all, our topic is about stories, sacred stories—in
one form or another—particularly pertaining to women and the
book. In this case, “the book” is so labeled because it is part of
the revelatory tradition of the Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity
and Islam. They share a basic presumption of revelation from a
divine source—incorrectly presumed or perceived as patriarchal in
essence and being for most of human history. The revelation was
sent to and through a human being, another patriarch, but for the
purpose of all humanity. The very coincidence of transcendent
source directed towards human utility or guidance creates one
conflict of meaning in revelation. Furthermore, whatever similarities
may lie between women of the Abrahamic faiths, it is the distinctions

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2004 HAWWA 2, 3

Also available online – www.brill.nl
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"à,     317

between the three faith systems that form the very basis for differences
in root systems. All ecumenical conflict resolution at a social and
political level is referenced on reconciliation between the conceptual
frameworks of fundamentally distinct worldviews. By and large,
these worldviews are shaped by diverse perceptions of the meanings
of the Divine-human communication across the mysteries of the
universe.
As women engage in ecumenical discourse, we seek to maintain
distinctions, while yet finding points of commonality. For the sake of
commonality, we focus on shared experiences because of gender
disparities resulting from textual interpretations and religious prac-
tices. Our discussions must address whether similar experiences ame-
liorate distinctions, since it has been dramatically demonstrated that
femaleness is configured in different ways because of other partic-
ularities like race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religious
perspective.1
My contribution to this discussion is based on the Qur"àn as a
distinctive revealed text in Islam. I will concentrate on gender as a
category of thought and an operating principle within the text and
as a meaningful aspect of textual analysis, known as tafsìr, exege-
sis and interpretation. This includes critical reflections on the short-
comings of language itself in relaying divine meaning as well as the
exclusionary patriarchal dominance in historical interpretation as it
affected Islam’s paradigmatic basis and its praxis. My being a woman
and a believer inspires my reflections on the Qur"àn. In this respect,
I am subject to limitations and oversights as befits these two cate-
gories. While I claim no absolute authority, I challenge prior claims
of exclusive male authority and masculinist language. I try to demon-
strate how blind spots in male perspectives, exhibited by the explicit
exclusion of feminine readings in exegesis only self-legitimates cer-
tain viewpoints on textual intent, potential and meaning. Furthermore,
such exclusions limit the text from yielding fully towards the suc-
cess of its venture to provide “guidance to all who are God fearing”

1
All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But some of Us are Brave in G.T.
Hull and B. Smith, eds., The Feminist Press, 1982. Development, Crisis, and Alternative
Visions: Third World Women’s Perspective, Gita Sen and Caren Grown, Institute of
Social Studies Trust, India, 1985, “The time has come to articulate the position
that feminism cannot be monolithic in its issues, goals and strategies,” p. 13.
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318  

(Q 2:1). Indeed to fulfill that claim the text must be interrogated

in its use of patriarchal language which patriarchal interpretation
not only presumed was divine but also presumed was directed solely
to men as a filter of divine meaning for women. That would mean
the Qur"àn is not universal. It would mean the Qur"àn is guidance
for men as fully human agents and women are relegated to a moral
subcategory incapable of fulfilling agency before Allah, except as
dictated by male authority or in subservience to male agency as
has characterized almost all of Islamic intellectual history.2

T Q"à
The Qur"àn is the revealed word of God. It is one of a series of
revealed texts for the purpose of human guidance, a furqàn (Q 25:1)
to distinguish between good and evil. This medium points towards
divine meaning through the limitation of language. According to
the Qur"àn, to fulfill the moral task of being human one must have
a harmonious relationship with the cosmos, the creations, with other
creatures, as a reflection of the relationship with the divine, the
creator, Allah. The Qur"àn identifies two types of guidance: implicit,
from the signs in the creations itself and explicit, through the words
of revelation.3 Each corroborates the other. Belief in revelation pre-
sumes there is an ultimate reality here, called Allah, which has a
relationship with the created or phenomenological world—particularly
with human creatures.
Since humans might be guided by other than explicit guidance
in the form of revelation, for we can be guided alright by the signs
and symbols (àyah pl. àyàt) in nature or the creation itself, then rev-
elation is a special kind of divine gift. The Creator grants it to us
without coercion on our part to benefit from it. We are free to
benefit from it or to ignore it and remain in a state of ignorance
as we choose. As a believer, these underlying presumptions are
significant to my work: belief in an ultimate reality who provides

2
Acknowledging that the presumption of women’s moral incompetence is exactly
the impression given globally with regard to Muslim women, this paper will dis-
pel that erroneous impression and support an alternative thesis based on textual
analysis.
3
Explicit and implicit àyàt.
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"à,     319

guidance in nature and through revelation as a gift. Additionally,

I am inspired by the belief that all signs and symbols are but
metaphors pointing to that ultimate reality, which transcends all
symbols and signs, be they in the language of revelation or in the
creation or nature. As humans we must understand that guidance
in the form of text is one imperfect means to arrive at under-
standing Allah. Finally, the worldview informing my work on the
Qur"àn and gender assumes that the Qur"àn is but one manifes-
tation of the “grand story”, whose pages are continually laid open
before us. There have been and will continue to be many ema-
nations from that grand story or meta-narrative, because of the
human propensity to use symbolic language to help find meaning.
The Qur"àn is only one albeit superior example of such meaning
making symbols equally subjected to the limitations of human mis-
understanding.
The historical movement of Islam began with “iqra"” the first
word of revelation to the Prophet Muhammad (b. 570 C.E.) when
he was 40 years old. His revelatory experience continued for 23
years after that first moment until his death, leaving behind a sub-
stantial text, the Qur"àn. The word “qur"àn”, a recitation or read-
ing, like that first word of revelation originates in the tri-literal
Arabic root: “Q-R-"”, “recite” or “read”. This infers a general
significance of words, the word, of language and languaging4 in
comprehension, implementation and transcendence within the over-
all framework of Islam. But because Arabic roots are formed on
the basis of un-voweled consonants, as Josef Van Ness says, God
leaves the decision to humanity how to read it in the Qur"ànic rev-
elation: “Nobody could therefore know which grammatical form
He (sic) Himself really used. The Arabic term by which the con-
sonantal skeleton was denoted, namely rasm, could therefore also
be applied to the phenomenologically perceptive realization of Divine
word, the ‘trace’ which was left on earth by the non-material speech of God ”.5
(emphasis mine) Thus the Qur"àn “is only an expression ('ibàra) of
God’s speech, its created phonetical form”.6

4
Alton Becker.
5
“Verbal Inspiration” in The Qur "àn as Text, Stefen Wild, ed., Brill, 1996,
p. 180.
6
Ibid.
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320  

Q"à M:  R  L  T

The Qur"àn was a force igniting the revolution of historical, polit-
ical, moral, spiritual and intellectual Islam in the Muslim empire.
Moreover, the Qur"àn enjoys complete consensus among Muslims
as the primary source of the Islamic worldview and heritage.7 If
Christianity can be seen as the religion of Christ, Islam is the reli-
gion of the Qur"àn. The act of its revelation and the intention to
actualize its meaning is the completion of the dìn or complete way
of life. Not only belief in the general principle of revelation from
God to humankind as one of seven articles of faith, but also the
affirmation that this particular text is the final revelation dictated
and preserved verbatim. As such, in Islamic orthodoxy, the Qur"àn
as revelation is elevated above the generic notion of revelation
and stands as the penultimate speech act definitively articulating
divine will.
The text, as an important impetus in the development of Islamic
thought, has retained its centrality since the formative period of
Islam for more than fourteen hundred years. However, in the for-
mative period and for several centuries thereafter, there was a pro-
liferation of interpretive efforts and methodologies applied to assist
in uncovering divine meaning from textual significance for real and
potential application. As such, the impact of revelation on the devel-
opment of jurisprudence or fiqh as well as in the lives of Muslims
was undeniably profound.
Despite similar claims currently regarding Qur"ànic centrality,
Muslim practices that might be seen as implementation because of
the exploration into the intricacies of textual meaning by Muslim
thinkers lacks both substance and rigorous dynamism today. Practical
implementation and intellectual explorations reflect a complexity of
factors: political, historical, cultural and moral, whether or not gen-
uinely reflective of Qur"àn attempt at divine meaning and world-
view. There is no guarantee that simply because those who engage
in the processes of implementation are Muslims means the results
are either Qur"ànic or Islamic. Muslims sometimes do not act as

7
This consensus in belief does not mean uniformity of understanding. Indeed
long and sometimes bitter debates have ensued throughout history and still con-
tinue today about the exact nature of the divine human relationship as exemplified
through the act of wa˙y or revelation.
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"à,     321

Muslims. Indeed, links between certain mainstream and extremist

Muslim practices and the full breadth of Qur"ànic spirit are obscure
and far-fetched.8 Intelligible connections between neo-conservative
orthodoxy and Qur"ànic holism are dubious. A considerable part
of the current malady plaguing Muslims today is the reformation
of Muslim identity in (post-)modernity. One concrete solution to
this malady might be easily resolved with coherent links between
enduring values of Qur"ànic ethos and the context and complexi-
ties of modernity.
It should go without stating, but for the politics of omission, that
historically, Muslim women struggled to memorize the Qur"ànic
text verbatim, to understand its nuances and to embody its world-
view, collectively and individually, during the formative period.
However, this is not evident since our intellectual legacy presents
such tremendous disparity in its record of women and men’s expe-
riences with the text. The intellectual legacy is extraordinarily silent
regarding the feminine and the female as pertains to this central
Islamic source. A silence that left a gap in the legacy, which many
equate with silence of the text itself with regard to the correlation
of male and female in Qur"ànic holism and ultimately with regard
to the understanding of the Divine. It is at the place of this his-
torical gap that I continue to grapple for higher meaning more rel-
evant to myself as a woman and where I position my comments
in this paper.

T H F G

Two distinctive yet reflective dimensions of voice are buried within
this historical gap. They reflect two aspects of textual meaning and
of the hermeneutics for achieving meaning. Both the feminine aspect
of voice within the text and the female voice about the text have
been marginalized or erased in mainstream Islamic intellectual his-
tory. The female voice about the text has not only been denied
validity, but also unprecedented constraints are placed upon the
legitimacy of a female utterance about textual meaning. She is

8
Khaled Abou el-Fadl, “The Place of Tolerance: On Reading the Qur"àn and
Misreading It,” Boston Review: A Political and Literary Forum, December 2001/January
2002.
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322  

confined by a prohibition from any error—her utterances and analy-

sis must be perfect.9 Such scrutiny is unprecedented. Men err as
part of the graced condition presumed of human beings. It is also
part of their self-aggrandizement. Women have been expected to
accept this graced condition of men’s humanity. So we have accepted
men as humans, even while denying our own equal humanity. By
extension we have accepted the denial of our right to give voice
to textual meaning, even if an error does occur occasionally as we
struggle to give words to truth in the interpretive endeavor. Indeed
“error” often means variance and implies deviance from the estab-
lished norm. Inevitably many aspects of a female centered reading
will vary from a normative male reading established through a long
patriarchal history of dominance over and self-legitimating discourse,
even over the Arabic language itself.
Furthermore, to prevent error, women deny their right to make
utterances about the text then accept the subsequent marginality
as a Divine decree. To the contrary, when we close off public dis-
course from our unique experiences and perspectives, we limit
human potential about knowing—not only with regard to textual
meanings and possibilities, but also with regard to being, our own
and the Divine’s. In this way, we limit the text from fulfilling its
claim as guidance. Thus, female inclusive interpretations must be
viewed as a moral imperative for women and men in Islam.
The other concern is the feminine voice within the text. Presuming
first and foremost that the term “Allah” is a signifier for that which
is neither male nor female, Allah’s voice assumes what we as human
recognize as masculine and feminine aspects in articulation. These
aspects are part of the effort employed to embody and enhance
the efficacy of the message relative to human limitations. While
both the male and the female are affirmed, both are also tran-
scended as part of the venture of the Divine to become known
through speech in time. The historical de-emphasis and reduction

9
The most recent manifestation of this is from feminist Muslim male thinkers
who criticize the apologetics in works like Qur "àn and Women. Although important
deconstructions of the book’s shortcomings are offered no substantial alternative
is developed. The beginning of such an alternative must first direct attention to
the notions of masculinity and to fourteen centuries of masculine privilege. As it
stands, it only maintains the idea that men have better insight and knowledge of
what is right for women.
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"à,     323

of the feminine voice in Allah’s utterance, and of the jamal char-

acteristics of the Divine, is congruent to the development and con-
structing of basic operational codes in orthodox Muslim praxis,
resulting in the full formation of the law.10 By their very nature,
such codes drew less from the ambiguous gray areas of textual
meaning, and the messy boundaries of cross fertilizations and rela-
tionality in order to come up with conclusive and distinctive black
and white grids of functionary purpose and autonomy which would
lead to precise rulings: the do’s and don’ts of religious behavior.
These deficiencies, exuberances or omissions in textual analysis
by a type of thinking which validates the male experience and
search for self-meaning in the guidance are part of a long histori-
cal precedent in patriarchal control over basic human paradigms
of reason and social interactions. It indicates but one of the mech-
anisms for human limitation over meaning in text. It then legiti-
mates itself by reflecting back onto the text as well as onto the
essence of its divine origin. For fourteen centuries not only have
men had exclusive authority over exegesis, affecting the perceptions
of the human agency and of the Divine, but also, malestream gram-
matical constructs, analysis and deconstruction legitimates their own
textual understanding then disrupts, discredits and invalidates female
experiments of inclusive reading. Eventually these spirals of self-
delusion and aggrandizement are projected as fact.
The full consequences are not yet recognized but uppermost in
my mind is the extent to which polarity distorts the human per-
ceptions of the One with Whom we struggle to keep an intimate
relationship across a great precipice of unfathomable mystery. When

10
In her “Introduction” to The Tao of Islam, Sachicko Murata says: “(T)wo
basic theological perspectives form two poles between which Islamic thought takes
shape. The most sophisticated of the Muslim thinkers strike a delicate balance between the two
positions. The experts in jurisprudence and Kalam—that is those Muslim author-
ities who defend the outward and legalistic teaching of Islam—lay stress upon
God’s incomparability (the jalal aspects).”
“In contrast, those authorities who are more concerned with Islam’s spiritual
dimension constantly remind the community of the prophetic saying, ‘God’s mercy
precedes His wrath’. They maintain that mercy love and gentleness (what she calls
the jamal aspects) are the overriding reality of existence . . . God is not primarily
a stern forbidding father, but a warm and loving mother.” (emphasis mine) SUNY
Press, 1992, p. 9.
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324  

these limitations are codified and the codes are adopted by Muslim
cultural practices they personify a sense of Muslim being and doing
which becomes pervasive until perceived as ultimately real and true.
To remove this impediment of seeing and interpretation, to
expand comprehension of meaning through text and to yield a myr-
iad ways of unprecedented reach to the Divine, at the very least,
we need to acknowledge the feminine within the text and validate
the female voice in textual reading and analysis. A greater har-
mony will be achieved when these aspects of textual voice have full
utterance and even occasional dominance, to counter their histor-
ical displacement. They enhance the overall potential of human
experiences to be reflected in the search for meaning and will result
in greater parity of human interactions. The reasons are quite sim-
ple; the Qur"àn has both a feminine and a masculine voice intended
for female and male readers both in both particularities as well as
in reach towards the infinite, unparticular and universal. Despite
the apparent benefits of such a female inclusive aspect of text and
meaning, the major paradigmatic discourse in Islamic history silenced
this voice and subsequently built upon an ethos that does injustice
to the text, to believers (i.e. followers of the guidance in that text)
and even to the Divine (author or inspirer of the text).
I am also interested in textual understanding and analysis with
regard to moral agency as derived from the Qur"ànic concept khi-
lafàh. Despite an unequivocal Qur"ànic imperative for human agency
the Islamic ethical tradition, also exclusively formulated by men,
following close upon the heels of Islamic law articulates human
agency primarily in terms of the public male person with occa-
sional analogues to the private domain or to female persons in ref-
erence to family but not as autonomous agents. Not only is the
male person the normative human upon which moral agency is
conceived, but also the female person is socially subservient to the
male in order to fulfill what the Qur"àn characterizes as funda-
mental to or the purpose of human creation: khilafàh.
In Qur"ànic cosmology the creation of humankind is an inten-
tional act with a stated purpose: “Inni jà'ilun fi-l-"ar∂ khilafàh verily
I will create on the earth an agent,” a trustee or a vice regent. The
fulfillment of human agency is in a two-pronged relationship between
human beings and Allah. We are both servants or 'abd before Allah
from whom we receive guidance, and agents of Allah’s will on the
earth or in creation, actors upon the temporal plane of existence
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"à,     325

as the means for the completion of that which we have surren-

dered our will to serve Allah.
This dual relationship of 'ibàdah (service) and khilafàh (agency) is
symbolically reflected in Islam’s major liturgical practice ßalàh (prayer).
The worshipper opens the prayer recitation as a full agent standing
to meet Allah. Then follows a bowing position and after resuming
standing two prostrations are dispersed with standing, reciting and
bowing. This juxtaposition of standing and prostration marks the
ritual. The standing worshipper symbolizes the agent before Allah
to fulfill the active role. Yet, while bowing—even prostrating he
indicates surrender to or obedience before a Will greater than the
limited human ego. For the completion of the whole ritual perfor-
mance a harmony is struck between surrender and agency.
Allah provides text as a beacon of light towards correct guidance,
simultaneously Allah requires concrete actions of all human agents
through endeavors in the creation in accordance to the Divine will.
How could such a profound textual presumption of the moral role
of all humankind in service to Allah be reduced to subjugate women’s
agency to male interpretation, authority and whim? Furthermore,
part of the patriarchal discourse extols the virtue of women’s service
in the family as the epitome of her agency before Allah. Meanwhile
male agents offer no public reward, benefit or value to these pursuits
in real terms of public acknowledgement or in terms of the fulfill-
ment of their agency. Men’s dominance over family is given prece-
dent to men’s service in the family which is significantly undervalued
against gaining and sustaining legitimate authority, autonomous pub-
lic competency and individual rank. Indeed, when the end justifies
the means, blatant disregard for service to all others legitimates
autonomy and authority. This patriarchal paradigm of public agency
corrupts moral excellence sometimes to a level with regrettable
adverse moral consequences against others. If women were even to
approach this type of ruthlessness, they are twice damned and
abhorred as deviant and inhumane. Indeed if a man refrains from
it, he may not be seen as masculine enough and his general human
worth is lowered.
This discrepancy that has arisen between service and agency can-
not be textual based as much as it is a consequence of the histor-
ical precedent of global patriarchy. Even though such a perspective
is explained away by the masculinist use of text despite the Qur"àn’s
own utterance:
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326  

Oh humankind be conscious of your Sustainer who had created you

out of one living entity and from it created it’s mate and out of the
two spread abroad a multitude of men and women; and remain con-
scious of Allah in whose name you demand your rights from one
another and (remain conscious) of the ties of kinship. Verily Allah is
ever watchful over you. (Q 4:1)

Just as women and men are considered equal in Islam, so are they
distinct, whether through nature or nurture. In Islamic historical
developments, the distinctive female experiences have been char-
acterized as both sacred warranting elaborate protection and vil-
lainous or beguiling requiring the mechanism for men’s protection.
Despite this distinctiveness, the overwhelming tendency in the Islamic
intellectual legacy has been for men to tell women how to be
women. Men evaluated what it means to be female. Men’s stan-
dards of evaluation result from male experiences, perceptions, needs
and fears of women. The evident flaw of this tendency, men hav-
ing privilege over female definition, is its explicit omission of women’s
direct perceptions and experiences regarding being, limitations and
capabilities. Yet, in the end the Islamic legacy claims to have estab-
lished what is just for women.

C I
One of the most pivotal issues in current Islamic resurgence and
discourses is the issue of women: in the family and society as well
as full economic, political and spiritual beings. There are new ques-
tions and new responses to old circumstances. More women take active
part in these discussions and development today than at any other time in
human history. Their participation adds to the critical consideration
of gender in preserving traditions while yet taking advantage of
modern frames of reference intellectually and morally. Random
and haphazard allusions to the Qur"àn text have affected the dis-
course over women’s rights. Similar passages can yield divergent
conclusions depending on the point of view of the interpreter.
Moreover, relationships between various passages are not always so
easily reconciled with or complimentary to other passages. The
problems posed by seeming contradictions within the text led to
interpretative conflicts between opposing viewpoints where different
passages or interpretations are given priority in accordance with
pre-conceived objectives or desired outcomes.
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"à,     327

One technique for preventing complications would be to identify

interpretive methodologies from the onset and clearly state how
they form the basis for the prospective. Acceptance of the plurali-
ties of meanings is an implied prerequisite here. Indeed plurality
of meanings is one dimension of Qur"ànic universal guidance, across
history (time-space), as well as in its social-moral efficacy. It par-
ticipates in the development of various states and stages of indi-
vidual and collective moral and spiritual development without loss
to its internal coherence and integrity.
Another technique for arbitrating between areas of conflict would
be to establish linguistic and hermeneutical indicators for holistic
Qur"ànic interpretation. If the whole of the Qur"àn permeates its
parts, how does that work in precise textual terms against contextual
applications? Despite consensus that the interpretation of the Qur"àn
by the Qur"àn itself (tafsìr al-Qur "àn bi-l-Qur "àn) is the number one
tool, traditional Qur"ànic exegesis is atomistic, applying meaning to
one lexical item or passage at a time. Occasional references to other
specific verses are inconsistent, unsystematic and haphazard. A log-
ical rationale is presumed although no methodological correlation
is given, and no underlying interpretive principles are outlined or
consistently applied.

F I  T  M

When I began research on the Qur"àn, Qur"ànic sciences, and
the sciences of interpretation, I had little knowledge about method-
ology for interpretation. My first serious instructor at Cairo University
explained tafsìr in quite literal atomistic terms. Every word in the
text, in every passage or verse, he said, had a meaning. Then he
demonstrated this throughout one semester in our study of surat-
al-Nisà": word-by-word, line-by-line, verse-by-verse, passage after
passage. What I had learned by the end of the semester was mostly
what his perspectives were. I learned nothing about the method he
used to arrive at particular meanings, to emphasize some parts of
the text over others, to include or exclude certain words.11 I was

11
On certain issues I intuitively disagreed but had no understanding how he
had arrived at “answers”. In particular, I was aghast with the idea that a female
slave, perceived as milk (or position) of her master, was subject to his sexual whims
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328  

displaced in the learning by this absence of a clear method. The

next semester, I requested a more comparative approach by reading
traditional exegetical works. Although we read actual interpreta-
tions there was no effort to understanding methodologies. I was not
clear how conclusions were derived and I found myself unsatisfied
with mutually self-supporting tendencies towards gender bias. I
came away with a particularly nagging question. How does detailed
consideration of language and language acts contribute to gender
analysis?
Linguistics introduced me to literature on hermeneutics and post-
modernist analysis, offering a framework to begin considering inter-
pretation as an intentional process of textual evaluation towards
meaning. Contexts affect perspective and conclusions in textual
contents even as much as the context of the interpreter affects the
conclusions drawn about the text or in interpretation. For example,
the patriarchal context of Qur"ànic revelation shaped both the text
and its readers. Then as male exegetes, themselves members and
participants of a social and intellectual patriarchal privilege, exclu-
sively interpret the Qur"àn, it is difficult to disentangle meaning
from the patriarchal hegemony imprinted on the language of con-
struction and of even attempts at critical reconstruction.
As my research develops I have increased new interest not only
in what the Qur"àn says, but how it says it. How are the active or
the passive voices used? When is a verbal noun form preferred over
a verb form? Are there “do” passages to relay certain types of mes-
sages and “be” passages for other types of messages? Can we eval-
uate these features systematically and chart out the results? What
are the coherent and intentional mechanisms for Qur"ànic guid-
ance? More recently my interest has extended to questions about
what is unsaid in textual constructs: ellipses and silences. Silence is
an important part of voice and of emphasis. Like the telling of a
good joke, the right placement of silence suspends the moment to
enhance the humor.

despite any objection on her part. I could not see any divine wisdom in such a
conclusion. From there I sought to understand how such practices that under-
mined the human dignity of another person were part of the Qur"ànic text, by
studying both slavery and gender issues in the Qur"àn. I found that the divine
did not institute slavery or gender stratification; they already existed at the time
of revelation. The task of the Qur"àn then was to point beyond those limits.
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"à,     329

Other speculations or lines of inquiry into female sensitive, inclu-

sive and enhanced methodologies of Qur"ànic exegesis continue to
arise. I have yet to coherently formulate methods for these unan-
swered questions in the process of learning and to rectify how they
bear on the collective understanding of ontology and function of
feminine voice within a transcendent text, nor how they might sup-
port the struggles for the full agency of aspirant and reader?
In order for the Qur"àn to achieve its stated goal of universal
guidance, it was produced as a dynamic interact with the particu-
lar social historical circumstance of its revelatory context, 7th cen-
tury Arabia. For example, the Qur"àn is revealed in Arabic, the
language of that context. How does the text compensate for pecu-
liarities, exuberances and deficiencies of the Arabic language in
order to transmit a divine message for universal guidance? The
Divine is not limited to masculine or feminine voice, and yet nego-
tiates between the ineffable and human language and comprehen-
sion implying some kind of functional transmutation. Can we decipher
dimensions of divine meaning constrained by the human language
medium?
The use of gender markers in Arabic is one such constraint of
human language. Every animate or inanimate object, physical or
metaphysical realm, or dimension of comprehension is stratified by
gender markers. When translating these terms how is gender car-
ried over or replaced by the neuter? For example, the word for
chapter in the Qur"àn, sùrah is feminine, but we do not say she in
referring to a sùrah in translation.
Furthermore, most Muslims are emphatic that references to Allah
with masculine antecedents and the like, literally means that Allah is
male, despite categorical denial of this similitude between Allah and
creation with “laysa ka mithlihi shay" (Allah) is not like any created
thing” (Q 42:11). Elsewhere the Qur"àn explains “things in creation”
in terms of their basic duality “min kulli shay"in khalaqna zawjayn from
all things we have created the two pair” (Q 51:49). Can gender
stratified minds perceive of the transgendered if transcendent ideas
are discussed in a gender-stratified language? One literalist trans-
lation of such a transcendent essence is found in the book title My
Soul is a Woman. This instigates a grotesque, even violent loss of
integrity to these lexical items. By reducing an elemental idea of
metaphysic to an explicit social/cultural presumption, itself stratified,
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330  

this misreading catastrophically affects both the metaphysical arche-

type nafs and the status of the female person in society as a woman.
This is an example of “misreading metaphor” or the concretizing
religious symbols, according to Joseph Campbell.12
Whatever the intent of the text to transcend gender, readers are
affected by the gender limitation of the Arabic language. The patri-
archy of Arabic grammatical analysis continues to subject the lan-
guage to the bias by reiterating gender rather than arriving at a
neuter. I have given this idea some consideration in my earlier
work.13 If the Qur"àn intends to reveal the full spectrum of a spir-
itual ethical system, the crux of universal guidance, it had to mediate
this intention through the terms of existing patriarchy in society
and language. Fazlur Rahman’s double movement regarding textual
meaning suggests that all Qur"ànic passages were given expression
relative to the context in which they were revealed. To continually
understand the text and to arrive at divine meaning, readers must
first understand the implications of those expressions in their time
and context. At this first level of textual analysis, a reader must
make certain proposals about the intent and underlying principles
of these expressions. The next move is forward to local and cur-
rent contexts. Re-considerations and applications about original
intent and general principles form the basis for current reflections
on textual relevancy, not reiterations of literal textual utterances
per se.
Although one first takes the expressions from the text, they are
relative to the time and context of its revelation. Their meanings
are not exhausted by that context or expression. Therefore analysis
must be made of their ethical moral intent. What conclusions are
drawn regarding their moral intent becomes the basis for new under-
standing and appropriate applications under a multiplicity of new
circumstances. New articulations distinctive to the understandings
and complexities of those new circumstances must then be rendered.
Every local or current application must reflect the underlying moral
intent as proposed, not the form of their literal articulation. That

12
Most recently in Thou art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor, chapter III,
“Our Notions of God,” pp. 17–42. © Joseph Campbell Foundation, 2001.
13
See Qur "àn and Woman: Re-Reading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s Perspective,
pp. 4–11.
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"à,     331

would end up mere mimicry. The original articulations are inter-

rogated for the ways they reflect ultimate meaning within the lim-
itations of previous existing local realities. Without some assessment
of the revelatory context as it affects Qur"ànic articulation, the
tendency was to universalize particulars, rather than see them as
pointers to a precise context from which we must derive universal
principles. Yet, every new proposal—since such a process is ongoing—
is itself constrained in full comprehension of the underlying uni-
versality by the historical, individual and collective reflections upon
them. Yet it is only through active engagement in the Qur"ànic
revelation through context and past and present time in ongoing
circumstance that meaning itself can be ongoing. As the text was
revealed in a particular context, so the text has its own internal
coherence limited to and yet transcending its locality.
Starting from the position that we believe in the whole of the
book, the atomistic approach that characterizes traditional exegesis
does not sufficiently explain or exemplify the extent and impact of
total Qur"ànic coherence and perhaps never tried to nor made
claim to such. Grappling with subtleties and seeming contradictions
led to some hard and fast rules like the application of nàsikh and
mansùkh which represents a purely historical chronology while ignoring
other priorities that may be established in the text irrespective of
its actual revelation in time. Precedent needs to be given to grand
Qur"ànic principles over particular Qur"ànic injunctions. Discovering
the grand principles means engaging in particulars but not being
fixed within their temporal manifestations. One must intellectually
engage as has been the case at earlier times in the intellectual legacy
with the explicit purpose of rendering the Qur"àn comprehensible
and relevant without presuming human development will only reflect
the 7th century intellectual and moral mind set.
Where Muslim exegetes and jurists focused on khaßß categories
to derive general meanings then drew from or restricted generali-
ties to their particular articulations in the Qur"àn rather than to
their underlying general intent as a form of canonical authority
invested in words of the textual composition. Therefore the nàsikh/man-
sùkh theory taken to extremes ignores other non-chronological indi-
cations of priorities and principles within the text. Instead particular
Qur"ànic injunctions were given precedent to over Qur"ànic uni-
versals. A clear methodology for arriving at a comprehensive look
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332  

at principles of justice and human dignity needs further develop-

ment instead of focusing on general and specific textual utterances.
How the Qur"àn uses a particular term, which is the language
act, construct and context, will bear on the meaning of that term.
When language acts are removed from their textual context, it must
be determined if their removal violates their usage within the text.
Such de-contextualization from language act and textual context
influences meaning, implications, relations and applications. Meanwhile
restricting various terms or language acts from potentially larger
and larger meaning could violate over all Qur"ànic intent. In terms
of gender application, how are discrepancies reconciled and who
determines correct reconciliation? Each reader is influenced by prior
texts and frames of reference. The degree to which these are explicitly
acknowledged, and the methods used must be described such that
conclusions drawn from these will have a larger basis from which to
make subsequent analysis and to agree and reject the conclusions.
Another possibility might be to compare all Qur"ànic passages
with lexical items based on the same particular root forms. From
these various usages, it might be possible to set up meaning field
to situate the term and its nuances. Itzutsu indicated that the Qur"àn
established its own semantic or paradigmatic field—especially for
key terms and concepts.14 Although the Qur"ànic field of meaning
might incorporate pre-Qur"ànic usages of the same term, often it
remains distinct from it. The places of overlap contain more infor-
mation about the linguistic cultural and context. The areas of dis-
tinction in the Qur"àn usage project toward its distinctive worldview
and effort to reform that cultural historical context by establishing
a trajectory of meaning and application. For examples, instruments
of modest dress, social interactions, trade, and even things like
means of transportation have not remained static. How does both
the 7th century contextual representation as well as the projections
of a Qur"ànic ethical worldview assist the human civilization for-
ward towards other instruments of utility and benefit, as well as to
other frames of reference?

14
God and Man in the Koran, Ayer Company, New Hampshire, reprint edition,
1987, pp. 18–35: “(B)y following the semantic development of some key-terms of
the Koranic in non-Koranic systems that came into existence in Islam in course
of time, we may be able to throw some side-light on the peculiarity of the mean-
ings which those words had in the Koran itself.” p. 36.
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"à,     333

The process of looking at the usage of a term overall, then lim-

iting the parameters of application to its original context, while yet
expanding beyond the particulars of context and expression unveils
levels of Qur"ànic efficacy and flexibility. In this way we can re-
examine the parameters fixed at certain times throughout the Islamic
intellectual legacy and yet begin to consider other possible and con-
gruent parameters. Again, I see the flaw of limitation not in tex-
tual intent as much as with the ones interpreting the text and then
canonizing their interpretations as definitive.
It is also worth noting in the Qur"ànic grammatical context that
there are different types of Arabic constructs. Starting with the tri-
literal root forms verbs, gerunds, and participles are derived from
a set of strictly established grammatical rules. Potentially, every
Arabic trilateral root can be reconfigured into all of its possible
grammatical forms—although admittedly some were not used in
the language. This is the place for the assimilation of new terms
and terminology as knowledge develops. Taking into consideration
the particular usages in the 7th century context of revelation in the
Qur"àn itself as well as in the potential grammatical contexts, are
certain constructs preferred in different textual circumstances of
Qur"ànic guidance? Suppose the Qur"àn uses the verbal noun form
of a lexical item but never uses the verb form. Are there implica-
tions for meaning making in this tendency? What happens when
the Qur"àn uses both a verb and a verbal noun for an item? Are
they interchangeable or does the use of a noun portray something
that the use of the verb could not portray? If there are “do” pas-
sages and “be” passages, which are emphasized in which ways in
text and interpretation? How do various Qur"ànic passages on sim-
ilar themes or topics correspond to each other with regard to the
do and be function of language constructs and textual implication
or application? Is there a hierarchy of meanings that we can deci-
pher? What is more, when key rungs in the ladder of this pro-
posed hierarchy are empty, vacant or silent, the unspoken dimensions
of meaning are hidden this way. How much is left unsaid along a
linguistic trajectory that can be constructed theoretically to expand
not only textual meaning but also application of meaning in unprece-
dented circumstances? If we filled in the gaps of these language
structural exclusions by simply filling in the chart of linguistic and
grammatical possibilities might we not begin to visualize in more
concrete terms the ways of a Qur"ànic trajectory?
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334  

The Qur"ànic trajectories are of particular relevance to issues of

social justice and women. The Qur"àn establishes a radical momen-
tum towards continual reforms in gender relations. Even where it
appears to fall short of explicit articulations these might be inferred
by following the directions of the textual linguistic and moral momen-
tum. It made quite rapid reform over a mere 23 year period. If
the pace of that progression had continued unabated by existing
and still developing patriarchies, our history would be characterized
as one of the most progressive in terms of gender justice. Instead,
the matter of Islam and gender is marked by its various stages of
regression. Today, we must tap into textual sources, local knowledge
fields as well as complex political, social, economic and global
developments in order to position ourselves along the original
Qur"ànic trajectory. Current articulations of Muslim women’s reforms
are not nearly so radical as the Qur"ànic trajectory.
Finally, in the context of Islamic spirituality and the Qur"àn, the
process of surrender means continual rebirth at each moment. How
can the Qur"àn get trapped into any fixed moment of historical
articulation when dynamism is blatantly so central to the text,
reflecting a process-orientation for the sake of continued growth
and spiritual development? I have tentatively read the feminine
voice into this absence of rigidity. Areas of the aesthetic expand
away from the more particularized readings of law, policy and
authority towards an ambiguity more common in female centered
experience and may yet open the heart of readers to the divine
presence. These aspects of textual reading are harder to quantify
but form the basis of an essential qualitative reading and under-
standing as an act of surrender.
I have looked at foreground and background as a feature of tex-
tual expression. For the Qur"àn to arrive and sustain its whole,
foreground and background are both equally essential in the shap-
ing of coherence. What interpretive devices help to reflect this unity
and harmony? To bring some aspects of textual background out
for an affirmation of presence instead of absence, the heart of the
interpreter must attune the eye-ear to this juxtaposition, which
heretofore has been carelessly taken for granted. We can see how
this works in the carved frieze common to Islamic architectural
ornamentation. In a composition displaying a three-tiered arrange-
ment of elements: arabesque and calligraphy, and areas in between
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"à,     335

(the so-called background) the elements co-exist in static harmony

with each other. The “background” areas not only display impor-
tant unifying shapes which may stand on their own, but these ele-
ments are carefully crafted to echo, balance, individuate and support
the other two elements in the hierarchy (calligraphy and arabesque)
through the use of density, rhythm and/or color.
Different material, color contrast or carved emphasis has the
potential to bring out one element in contrasting relief to another.
None of this accounts for that fact that in actually crafting the
relief, all three elements—background, arabesque and calligraphy—
are carved out of the whole pristine panel from the start. So what
appears as background, in the visual composition, is actually derived
from the foreground in the original material structure, as are the
other elements. It is only the illusion of the division of the original
material into separate elements that may lead one to believe that
a particular element is more important in the hierarchy of tiers
than any other element. Instead they are all equally important to
the harmony of the final composition. They all come from the same
place and they all cooperate to present the harmony, balance and
beauty of the whole.
The Qur"àn is a composition of words uttered in a human lan-
guage medium as a message of guidance to humans themselves.
Although human language best suits human comprehension and
human action by giving important comprehensible clues, they are
insufficient to completely contain and expose divine meaning. The
Qur"àn points us towards a direction of righteousness. We are left
to our own will to actually follow that direction. If the Islamic view
of the world has primarily been the result of male articulations,
then male experiences and visions have been considered the most
important detail over and above any differences inherent or con-
trived between them and female experiences. Explicit inclusion of
the female perspectives and experiences in concluding ideas about
the Qur"ànic worldview would go a long way in helping to attain
a more equitable consideration of women and women’s rights in
Muslim societies. To increase women’s participation and actively
include women’s experiences towards the task of comprehending
the text adds new dimensions and reveals new aspects of voice and
presence in the discourse even as these might well have been miss-
ing in the past. Their absence reflects human interaction with text
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336  

and their inclusion will likewise be the result of human interaction.

At this time in history, however, it is obvious that women are
important aspects of Islamic foreground and background, it’s just
a question of perspective.

W C
Abou el-Fadl, Khaled. “The Place of Tolerance: on Reading the Qur"àn and
Misreading It,” Boston Review: A Political and Literary Forum. December
2001/January 2002.
Campbell, Joseph. Thou art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor. Joseph Campbell
Foundation, 2001.
God and Man in the Koran. New Hampshire: Ayer Company, 1987.
Hull, G.T. and Smith, B., eds. All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men,
But some of Us are Brave. The Feminist Press, 1982.
Murata, Sachicko. The Tao of Islam. SUNY Press, 1992.
Sen, Gita and Grown, Caren. Development, Crisis, and Alternative Visions: Third
World Women’s Perspective. India: Institute of Social Studies Trust, 1985.
Wadud, Amina. Qur"àn and Woman: Re-reading the Sacred Text from a Woman’s
Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Wild, Stefan. ed., The Qur"àn as Text. Brill, 1996.