Work · Philosophy in the Islamic World
Qur’an and Woman
Rereading the Qur’an from a woman’s perspective: its principles of justice and equality outweigh verses read as licensing male rule.
Introduction
Amina Wadud, an African American convert to Islam and a scholar of Islamic studies, wrote the book while teaching at the International Islamic University in Malaysia; it was first published in Kuala Lumpur in 1992 and by Oxford University Press in 1999. Following the method of the Pakistani scholar Fazlur Rahman, she reads verses in their historical context and in light of the Qur’an’s overall principles, above all the equality of all believers before God. She examines the creation of humankind from a single soul, the equal spiritual standing of women and men, and contested verses on inheritance, testimony and authority in marriage (4:34). The book is regarded as a foundational work of gender-just Qur’anic interpretation.
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