Women and Gender in the Qur'an

Abstract

Hundreds of Qur’anic verses pertain to women and girl figures. These figures play pivotal roles in Islamic sacred history, and the Qur’an celebrates the aptitudes of many such figures in the realms of spirituality, politics, and family. Some women are political adversaries of prophets or use their agency in morally corrupt ways; however, the Qur’an presents many more examples of pious women and girls, including those who birth, protect, guide, and inspire prophets. This book outlines how female figures—old, young, barren, fertile, chaste, profligate, saintly, and reproachable—enter Islamic sacred history and advance the Qur’an’s overarching didactic aims. The analysis considers all the major and minor female figures referenced in the Qur’an, including those who appear in narratives of sacred history, in parables, in verses that allude to events contemporaneous with the Qur’an, and in descriptions of the eternal abode. Female personalities appear in the Qur’anic accounts of human origins, in stories of the founding and destruction of nations, and in narratives of conquest, filial devotion, romantic attraction, and more. This work gives attention to these wide-ranging depictions and to themes related to sexual relations, kinship relations, divine-human relationships, female embodiment, and women’s social roles. Analysis focuses on lexical features of the Qur’an, intra-textual resonances, and thematic juxtapositions. The book explores Qur’anic dictates involving gender relations and highlights female spiritual competencies.

Differentiation in how Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) women responded to the jihad fatwa in the 1945 Battle of Surabaya

“…Meanwhile, in the Western world, which demands absolute equality between men and women, it is not appropriate if it is used to see Islamic civilization (Majid, 2021). Islamic principles are very clear about the position of women as mothers, aunts, daughters, and wives in terms of status, rights, and rewards in this world and the hereafter (Patoari, 2019;Ibrahim, 2020). Their position is equal to that of men, but if there are differences, they are complementary.…”

Interpreting Women's Emancipation in the Context of Islamic Multiperspectivism: An Analytical Approach

“…The word Caliph in the Qur'an does not point to a specific gender, race, or ethnic group. Men and women have the same function and role in their capacity as God's caliphs (Ibrahim, 2020). They will be responsible for their caliphate tasks on earth in the same position before Allah.…”

Construction of Gender Religious Eglitarianism in Muhammadiyah Educational Institutions of Banyumas and Malang Regencies

“…Also recommended by research (Zailani et al, 2016) is a reanalysis of the misogynistic al-Hadist text. Research examining the texts of the Koran has also emerged, such as (Duderija, 2020) research analysing the debate over the interpretation of the texts of the Koran; (Ibrahim 2020) research focuses on the texts of the Koran that discuss gender and women. This effort is revolutionary in Muhammadiyah education, as it seeks to discover "God's pure intention" in religious texts.…”