Female Personalities in the Qur'an and Sunna

Examining the Major Sources of Imami Shi'i Islam

Rawand Osman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9780415839389
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317671503
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

This book investigates the manner in which the Qur'an and sunna depict female personalities in their narrative literature.

Providing a comprehensive study of all the female personalities mentioned in the Qur'an, the book is selective in the personalities of the sunna, examining the three prominent women of ahl al-bayt; Khadija, Fatima, and Zaynab. Analysing the major sources of Imami Shi'i Islam, including the exegetical compilations of the eminent Shi'i religious authorities of the classical and modern periods, as well as the authoritative books of Shi'i traditions, this book finds that the varieties of female personalities are portrayed as human beings on different stages of the spiritual spectrum. They display feminine qualities, which are often viewed positively and are sometimes commendable traits for men, at least as far as the spiritual domain is concerned. The theory, particularly regarding women's humanity, is then tested against the depiction of womanhood in the hadith literature, with special emphasis on Nahj al-Balagha.

Contributing a fresh perspective on classical materials, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Islamic Studies, Women's Studies and Shi'i Studies.

1 Woman in creation

DOI: 10.4324/9781315770147-2

Introduction

The opening verse of the Qur’anic chapter of al-Nisā’ (The Women) is key in the story of woman’s creation, because it speaks of the creation of the single soul, the creation of its mate, and then the rest of humanity’s existence on earth. The latter part of this opening verse stresses that human beings should show piety towards God, and towards “the wombs”. Therefore, it is an adequate starting point to define certain fundamental concepts, such as the Qur’anic view of what it means to be human, as well as the origin of the first woman, because the full personhood of women may be described as the ultimate feminist quest.

Most feminists of the three monotheistic traditions find the creation of woman from man to be highly problematic and indicative of a primordial sexism, which is at the core of views that degrade woman.¹ Some of the earliest feminists wrote, “all political parties and religious denominations have alike taught that woman was made after man, of man, and for man, an inferior being, subject to man. Creeds, codes, scriptures and statutes, are all based on that idea”.² A contemporary radical feminist theologian describes the story of Eve’s creation from Adam as “not only a hoax, but a typical instance of what I call ‘reversal’ of biological and historical fact … the female is more active (in the production of the child) – a fact which patriarchal ideology simply reversed” [emphasis in original].³ Of course, there is also the point of view that, read with the proper understanding of language, and within the broader context, the scriptures’ narration of the story of creation reveals strong egalitarian principles.⁴ A contemporary Muslim feminist says:

I regard the issue of woman’s creation as more important, philosophically and theologically, than any other. If man and woman have been created equal by God, who is believed to be the ultimate arbiter of value, then they cannot become unequal, essentially, at a subsequent time. Hence their obvious inequality in the patriarchal world is in contravention of God’s plan. On the other hand, if man and woman have been created unequal by God, then they cannot become equal, essentially, at a subsequent time. Hence any attempt to equalize them is contrary to God’s intent.⁵

For these reasons, the story of Eve is unique among all the female personalities in the Qur’an. Eve herself is not a dominant character in the story, but the wider implications of her creation need to be examined in order to find some clues regarding the Qur’anic views on the sameness and difference between men and women.

The verse governing this chapter is the opening of Sūrat al-Nisā’. Amina Wadud has examined this verse [4: 1] and identified three key words in this regard: min, nafs, and zawj.⁶ This chapter seeks to build on her findings by engaging with the tafsīr and ḥadīth. Eve’s creation will be discussed, with emphasis on whether she was created from Adam, for Adam, and after Adam. Some Shī‘ī traditions which support an egalitarian view on the manner of Eve’s creation will be put forth, and it will be argued that attempts to reconcile opposing traditions sometimes result in diminishing the potential for liberation from the idea of Eve as lesser than a whole human being. Moreover, it will be shown that there is another key word in the verse, namely, al-arḥām, which was not identified as such by Wadud but is taken very seriously by the exegetes, and which would have serious implications for the story of creation and the concept of vicegerency. The universal themes of the story of creation will be discussed in order to gain a better understanding of jihād al-nafs that is central to the overall thesis.

The creation of the human duality in the Qur’an and exegesis

The opening verse of Sūrat al-Nisā’ states:

Humankind, fear/reverence your Lord (yā ayyuha al-nās ittaqū rabbakum), who created you of a single soul (al-ladhī khalaqakum min nafsin wāḥida), and from it created its mate (wa khalaqa minhā zawjahā), and from the pair of them scattered abroad many men and women (wa bath-tha minhumā rijālan kathīran wa nisā’an); and fear/reverence God by whom you demand one of another (wa-ttaqu-llāha-lladhī tasā’aluna bihī), and the wombs (wa-l-arḥām); surely God ever watches over you (inna-llāha kāna ‘alaykum raqībā).

[4: 1]

Creation in exegesis

Abū al-Naṣr Muḥammad Ibn Mas’ṫd Ibn Muḥammad al-‘Ayyāshī⁷ (d.320/932), author of one of the earliest books of Shī‘ī exegesis, relies entirely on the narration of ḥadīth for his interpretation. For this verse, he narrates three groups of traditions. The first is about the origin of Adam and Eve, the second is concerning their children and how they procreated, but this is not very relevant to the present discussion on the Qur’anic view of womanhood, and the third is about the meaning of the wombs in this verse. He reports two traditions that Eve was created from Adam’s lower rib, and one in which the sixth Shī‘ī Imam al-Bāqir criticises the rib story for theological reasons, and explains that Eve was created from the same material as Adam. Ḥuwayzī, whose exegesis is also based on ḥadīth, reports traditions that are in the same vein, but there are many more traditions in Ḥuwayzī’s exegesis than there is in ‘Ayyāshī’s,⁸ which is perhaps due to it being produced much later in time.

‘Ayyāshī does not comment on the contradictions between stories of Eve’s creation,⁹ but Ḥuwayzī does mention that traditions about the rib are weak.¹⁰

Qummī explains that the first soul in the verse is a reference to Adam, and its mate is a reference to Eve who was created from his bottom rib, albeit without any justification for his claims. Ṭusī explains that the single soul is a reference to Adam and Eve its mate, according to the exegetes. He continues that they claim that she was created from one of Adam’s ribs, whereas Imam al-Bāqir had said that she was created from the same clay as Adam. Then however, he narrates one prophetic tradition which likens woman to a crooked rib (more on this below), before repeating the tradition that claims she was created from the same clay.¹¹

Ṭabāṭabā’ī is mostly concerned with the universal implications of the creation of humanity from a single soul. He begins by observing that the original single soul is meant as a reminder that humanity is one, and therefore one ought to show reverence to God and to the wombs by abiding by God’s just laws:

The verse invites people to show reverence to God in their affairs, because they are all united in their humanity, without any difference between the man and the woman, the young and the old, the weak and the strong, so that the man does not oppress the woman, and the old among them the young … this makes evident the wittiness of the verse being addressed to human beings and not to the believers in particular, as well as attaching reverence to their Lord without mentioning the name of Allah.¹²

He then explains that the word nafs, here translated as “soul”, also denotes sameness or identity. Thus the human nafs is the human identity which includes the soul and the body in this material world, and the soul alone in the beyond. In this particular verse, he continues, it appears that the single soul is a reference to Adam, and its mate is his wife, and both are the parents of humanity. He refuses the interpretation of some exegetes whom, he tells us, consider that the single soul and its mate are the human male and female in general. He says that such a reading would imply that the meaning of the verse is that human beings are similar in that they all descend from a human male and female, which is the idea expressed in another Qur’anic verse, “O humankind, We have created you from a male and female, and appointed you races and tribes, that you may know one another. Surely the noblest among you in the sight of God is the most god-fearing of you” [49: 13]. Ṭabāṭabā’ī says that while the latter verse unifies human beings in their belonging to the human kind, as they all originate from a human male and a human female, the verse from al-Nisā’ unifies human beings in their essential truth, and that “in spite of their multiplicity, men and women have been derived from a common origin”.¹³

As for the creation of the mate (zawj), Ṭabāṭabā’ī finds it to mean that its mate, or consort, was created of its same nature. His understanding is based on the meaning of the term zawj in several Qur’anic verses which he quotes, among them, “And of His signs is that He created for you, of yourselves, spouses, that you might repose in them, and He has set between you love and mercy” [30: 21], and “God has appointed for you of yourselves spouses, and He has appointed for you of your spouses sons and grandsons” [16: 72].

Ṭabāṭabā’ī further states that what is mentioned in some exegeses regarding the mate originating from that soul and being created from a part of it, based on some narrations that say Eve was created from Adam’s rib, has no proof in this verse.¹⁴

As for the phrase, “and from the pair of them (God) scattered abroad many men and women”, it means that all human beings have descended from this original pair, and from no one else. In fact, this important idea inclines Ṭabāṭabā’ī to the interpretation that Adam and Eve’s children married one another because there was no one else available at the time, and he maintains that this is not problematic because the law prohibiting incest would have came to pass afterwards.¹⁵

For the exegetes, unlike modern reformists, it is the latter part of the verse that is controversial. Concerning the phrase, “and fear/reverence God by whom you demand one of another, and the wombs; surely God ever watches over you”, ‘Ayyāshī reports a number of traditions on the wombs in this verse; these are, that God ordained maintaining the ties of kinship, literally “connecting the wombs/kin” (ṣilat al-arḥām), that God has given the wombs a grand status by placing them next to him in this verse, and even a tradition that the primordial womb is connected to God’s “throne”.¹⁶

This status of “the wombs” being next to God in the verse, and given its mystical standing in the ḥadīth, was difficult to explain by the exegetes. Qummī understands the second part of the verse to mean that the fear/reverence for God (taqwa), is what humankind will be asked about on judgement day, as they will be asked about the wombs (al-arḥām), whether they had maintained the bonds of kinship. Therefore, to him, al-arḥām is annexed not to the command to revere God (ittaqṫ), but to the questioning (tasā’aluna) which he understands to be the one that will occur on judgement day.¹⁷

Ṭusī seems particularly concerned with the latter part of the verse and how it fits into the general aim. He reads that phrase to mean, fear/reverence God by whom you demand your rights, and fear/reverence the wombs meaning fear untying the bonds of kinship. Ṭusī observes here that that the verse is admonishing people to care particularly for children, women, and the weak in society by reminding them that they are all from a single soul.¹⁸

Ṭabāṭabā’ī, like Ṭusī, takes on a thorough grammatical study to understand the place of the wombs in this sentence, and he considers several readings which would give different meanings. He concludes, as does Ṭusī...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 Woman in creation
• 2 Female personalities in the Qur’an
• 3 Female personalities in the sunna
• 4 Female personality in the ḥadīth
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index