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Women's Intelligence and the Islamic Tradition: Difference between revisions
Women's Intelligence and the Islamic Tradition (view source)
Revision as of 14:03, 19 May 2021
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===Quran 43:16-19=== | ===Quran 43:16-19=== | ||
In {{Quran-range|43|16|19}}, God is recorded responding to what is perceived as the very insulting idea found with Muhammad's contemporaries that God should have daughters rather than sons and that the female should have any share in the divine. In identifying why God's having a daughter should be more insulting than the equally pagan notion that he should have a son, the Quran states that because the Arabs themselves detest having daughters rather than sons, it is unbecoming that they should attribute daughters rather than sons to God. In {{Quran|43|18}}, God goes on to specify why people may feel undesirous of daughters, and suggests that it is because they are "brought up in ornaments", "trinkets", or "outward show" and are inept in their argumentation. | In {{Quran-range|43|16|19}}, God is recorded responding to what is perceived as the very insulting idea found with Muhammad's contemporaries that God should have daughters rather than sons and that the female should have any share in the divine. In identifying why God's having a daughter should be more insulting than the equally pagan notion that he should have a son, the Quran states that because the Arabs themselves detest having daughters rather than sons, it is unbecoming that they should attribute daughters rather than sons to God. In {{Quran|43|18}}, God goes on to specify why people may feel undesirous of daughters, and suggests that it is because they are "brought up in ornaments", "trinkets", or "outward show" and are inept in their argumentation. Rather than dissenting from this description of women, the following verse goes on to suggest in that this description constitutes yet another reason why God especially should not have daughters.{{quote |{{Quran-range|43|16|19}}|'''Corpus:''' Or has He taken of what, He has created, daughters and He has chosen (for) you sons. And when is given good news, (to) one of them, of what he sets up for the Most Gracious (as) a likeness, becomes his face dark and he (is) filled with grief. '''Then (is one) who is brought up in ornaments and he in the dispute (is) not clear.''' And they made, the Angels, those who themselves (are) slaves (of) the Most Gracious, females. Did they witness their creation? Will be recorded their testimony, and they will be questioned.<br> | ||
'''Yusuf Ali:''' What! has He taken daughters out of what He himself creates, and granted to you sons for choice? When news is brought to one of them of (the birth of) what he sets up as a likeness to (Allah) Most Gracious, his face darkens, and he is filled with inward grief! '''Is then one brought up among trinkets, and unable to give a clear account in a dispute (to be associated with Allah)?''' And they make into females angels who themselves serve Allah. Did they witness their creation? Their evidence will be recorded, and they will be called to account!<br> | '''Yusuf Ali:''' What! has He taken daughters out of what He himself creates, and granted to you sons for choice? When news is brought to one of them of (the birth of) what he sets up as a likeness to (Allah) Most Gracious, his face darkens, and he is filled with inward grief! '''Is then one brought up among trinkets, and unable to give a clear account in a dispute (to be associated with Allah)?''' And they make into females angels who themselves serve Allah. Did they witness their creation? Their evidence will be recorded, and they will be called to account!<br> | ||
'''Pickthal:''' Or chooseth He daughters of all that He hath created, and honoureth He you with sons? And if one of them hath tidings of that which he likeneth to the Beneficent One, his countenance becometh black and he is full of inward rage. '''(Liken they then to Allah) that which is bred up in outward show, and in dispute cannot make itself plain?''' And they make the angels, who are the slaves of the Beneficent, females. Did they witness their creation? Their testimony will be recorded and they will be questioned.<br> | '''Pickthal:''' Or chooseth He daughters of all that He hath created, and honoureth He you with sons? And if one of them hath tidings of that which he likeneth to the Beneficent One, his countenance becometh black and he is full of inward rage. '''(Liken they then to Allah) that which is bred up in outward show, and in dispute cannot make itself plain?''' And they make the angels, who are the slaves of the Beneficent, females. Did they witness their creation? Their testimony will be recorded and they will be questioned.<br> | ||
'''Daryabadi:''' Hath He taken for Himself from whatsoever He hath created daughters, and hath honoured you with sons. And when there is announced Unto any of them the birth of that which he likeneth Unto the Compassionate, his countenance remaineth darkened the whole day and he is wroth inwardly. '''Hath He taken to Himself that which is reared in ornaments, and is in contention not plain?''' And they make the angels who are the bondmen of the Compassionate females. Have they witnessed their creation? Their testimony will be written down, and they will be questioned.}} | '''Daryabadi:''' Hath He taken for Himself from whatsoever He hath created daughters, and hath honoured you with sons. And when there is announced Unto any of them the birth of that which he likeneth Unto the Compassionate, his countenance remaineth darkened the whole day and he is wroth inwardly. '''Hath He taken to Himself that which is reared in ornaments, and is in contention not plain?''' And they make the angels who are the bondmen of the Compassionate females. Have they witnessed their creation? Their testimony will be written down, and they will be questioned.}} | ||
==Modern revisionary perspectives== | ==Modern revisionary perspectives== | ||
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Still others have, in recent times, suggested that the hadiths about women's mental deficiency, religious deficiency, and majority share in Hell be read sarcastically or satirically. The idea here, it appears, is that Muhammad, being very familiar with the women in his community, would have understood that in saying what he did, he would not be taken seriously. While sarcasm can be infamously challenging to detect in historical texts, particularly where cultural mores and expectations have changed dramatically with time, there is little in the relevant portions of scripture to suggest Muhammad was being anything but serious in his statements. Traditionalists are incensed by the insinuation that Muhammad could have been making light of such a theologically important matter as the inhabitants of hell or that he could have cited the Quran and Sharia to buttress what was only meant as a joke. Non-Muslim participants in this discussion have found this argument similarly incredible. | Still others have, in recent times, suggested that the hadiths about women's mental deficiency, religious deficiency, and majority share in Hell be read sarcastically or satirically. The idea here, it appears, is that Muhammad, being very familiar with the women in his community, would have understood that in saying what he did, he would not be taken seriously. While sarcasm can be infamously challenging to detect in historical texts, particularly where cultural mores and expectations have changed dramatically with time, there is little in the relevant portions of scripture to suggest Muhammad was being anything but serious in his statements. Traditionalists are incensed by the insinuation that Muhammad could have been making light of such a theologically important matter as the inhabitants of hell or that he could have cited the Quran and Sharia to buttress what was only meant as a joke. Non-Muslim participants in this discussion have found this argument similarly incredible. | ||
=== Reinterpreting Quran 43:18 === | |||
Some modern Muslim scholars have shifted to interpreting {{Quran|43|18}} as a simple description of pagan attitudes towards women rather than an affirmation of those attitudes.<ref>{{Citation|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518193855/http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=10&ID=12885&CATE=88|url=http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=10&ID=12885&CATE=88|title=Tafseer Quran 43:18: does this verse view women negatively?|author=Shaykh Sohail Hanif|publisher=SunniPath}}</ref> However, the following verse ({{Quran|43|19}}) uses the same interrogative and exclamatory device found earlier in the passage -- a statement of what the pagans believed followed by an ''alif'' (translated "What!") -- and then Allah's rebuttal ("did they witness their creation?") which expresses incredulity and outrage. Thus it seems more likely that in {{Quran|43|18}} Allah is making what he thinks is a factual counter-argument (i.e. that women are frivolous and unintelligent) to contradict the pagan belief in the daughters of Allah. | |||
==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||