Gender Perceptions of Equality and Male Superiority Reflected by Classical Commentaries on the Qur’anic Verses 2:228 and 4:34

Ashraf Dockrat; Abdullah Mdala; JF (Hans) Janse van Rensburg

doi:10.25159/2663-6573/19507

Authors

Ashraf Dockrat Independent Scholar, Pretoria
Abdullah Mdala https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3644-0857
JF (Hans) Janse van Rensburg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/19507

Keywords:

mitlu, daraja, qawwāmūna, faḍḍala, mufassīrūn

Abstract

Qur’anic verses 2:228 and 4:34 respectively prescribe divorce proceedings and general relations between husbands and wives in the early Muslim community. In dealing with the aspect of divorce (2:228), the terms aḥaqqu (better right [of husbands]), mitlu (similarity [of spousal rights]), and daraja (degree [of husbands above wives]) are used, and in dealing with the general obligations of spouses within marriage (4:34), the terms qawwāmūna ([men as] caretakers [of wives]), faḍḍala (favouring [of men by Allah]), and anfaqū (spending [of men for the benefit of women]) are used. In the article the explanations of the aforementioned terms by five interpreters (mufassīrūn) are discussed and compared. The five mufassīrūn are al-Ṭabarῑ (d. AD 923); al-Rāzī (d. 925); al-Zamakhsharī (d. 1143); al-Qurṭubī (d. 1273); and Ibn Kathīr (d. 1373). Their views are systematically supplemented by references to the tafsir of al-Tha’ālabῑ (d. 1035) and annotations from the Qur’anic commentary of Ibn ‘Āshūr (1879–1973) published in 1984. The procedure followed is to use al-Ṭabarῑ and al-Rāzī as our point of departure, and then to complement their views with those of the other three Qur’anic interpreters. Furthermore, during the discussion of the chosen interpreters’ elucidations of the six aforementioned terms, common themes are identified and highlighted. This methodology differs from the customary approach of identifying patriarchal, interpretative tendencies among mufassīrūn in a chronologically progressive way, particularly by Muslim feminists. However, careful note is taken of detailed criticisms of traditional interpreters by women scholars.

Underlying the present study is the research question of how the concepts “gender equality” and “male superiority” are defined, contextualised, and reconciled in classical exegesis. This implies testing the hypothesis of whether the said notions are distinct categories or overlap in the way they feature in the material that is perused.

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