Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text From a Woman's Perspective by Amina Wadud

Author:Amina Wadud [Wadud, Amina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780195128369
Amazon: 0195128362
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1999-06-09T18:30:00+00:00

I will consider these Qur'anic verses in detail and discuss syntactically the equity of recompense,15 with a particular focus on the Arabic neuter. Through this discussion I wish to demonstrate that in order to convey eternal principles and values (i.e. universals), the Qur'an had to overcome gender constraints in the language of Arabic speakers.16 The significant parts of this verse are:

man/ does good /min (from) /dhakarin aw untha, (male or female), and is a mu'min (believer) [singular masculine form] /ula'ika (they: masculine plural form)17 will enter the Garden.

The word man is used for the interrogative 'who?' and the English 'whoever'.18 It is one19 of the rare Arabic terms used with both masculine and feminine with no change of form.20 However, in the usual androcentric analysis, the lafz (term and form) is taken to be masculine21, and becomes feminine (or plural or dual) in meaning only after it becomes obvious that the word applies to something feminine (or plural or dual).22

Restricting the lafz to masculine and then requiring a female or plural subject is a common feature in the language. It overrides the significance of neuter, by making it masculine and removing the reader from the potential neuter implications of a term. To alleviate such limitations, this term can be classified as neuter used equally with masculine, feminine, or plural when specified. At the least, one should understand that the use of the masculine lafz represents the neuter and therefore equally includes the female.

That man is used to express neutrality in the above verse is clear from the wording 'from male or female', which follows it. The use of aw 'or', rather than wa, 'and', indicates the individual, because it keeps the male and the female distinct, separate: whichever one of the two.

They are both (or either) then described as mu'min (a believer). In this context, we can again take the masculine singular form as neutral,23 that is, not male mu'min, which by analogy or extension24 includes female mu'minah, but neuter mu'min.

Finally, the plural ula'ika proposes inclusiveness: not only each male and female, but also, every male and female who fits the description. The significance of this analysis is that it works in conjunction with the Qur'an's emphasis on the individual in the Hereafter.

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