Unveiling the intellectual legacy of women in Islamic scripture
By: Arafat Fani
Exploring the concept of womanhood can be approached from various angles, one of which involves delving into the personalities portrayed in Qur’anic stories. In all sincerity, one asks “How does God depict women, and how does God communicate with them?”
What one discovers is that women in the Qur’an appear in narratives that encompass conquest, filial devotion, romantic attraction, and more. There is no singular standard or archetypal female figure. When considered as a collective, Qur’anic women embody piety and impiety, wisdom and ignorance, strength and timidity, old age and youth, fame and obscurity, marriage and singleness, authority and subordination, fertility and childlessness, and so forth. There is no single mold for women.
In certain instances, God praises specific female figures, while in others, God admonishes them for their behavior. Although no woman in the Qur’an is explicitly identified as a prophet or messenger, the Qur’an portrays women’s characters, intelligence, and spiritual excellence. Countless times, the needs and desires of women and girls are heard by God in the Qur’anic stories.
Women engage in conversations with God’s angelic messengers, frequently pray to God, and one woman, in particular, becomes the channel for delivering God’s “Word” into the world. Maryam, for example, poignantly expresses the pain of childbirth in a verse: “Would that I had died before this and were a thing forgotten, utterly forgotten!” (Qur’an 19:23).
This verse powerfully conveys the discomfort and agony often experienced by women during childbirth, but it also captures Maryam’s struggle to bear the divine “Word.” Exploring the trials and triumphs of female figures in the Qur’an allows us to identify many parallels between male and female characters.
In fact, several female figures are specifically highlighted for their qualities such as discernment, sincere worship, conviction, courage, or their proximity to God. They are singled out for special mention and serve as positive or negative exemplars. Their stories guide us in cultivating virtues.
Reflecting on Maryam’s birth experience, for instance, has the potential to increase empathy towards women undertaking the extraordinary and physically and emotionally demanding task of giving birth. While the embodied experience of childbirth is uniquely female, even male reciters of the Qur’an express the distressed cries of a woman in labor by reenacting Maryam’s words.
The affective dimensions of Qur’anic stories hold great significance. Qur’anic scholar Karen Bauer draws a comparison between Maryam’s labor pains and the anguish felt by Moses’ mother when she had to cast her child away to protect him from Pharaoh’s forces. Bauer highlights how both narratives evoke emotional responses within the Qur’anic audience:
God is there to relieve emotional and physical suffering, bringing these exemplary women into a state of hope, relief, and, ultimately, knowledge of God’s justice and mercy. They both prove their subservience to God and willingness to put aside all worldly emotional attachments to do His bidding. The listener is brought along on the emotional journey, and is able to empathise with the comfort they receive.
In these narratives, the immense trials faced by devout women are alleviated through divine intervention. While pious women still endure hardships, their suffering is met with God’s awareness and support.
Such Qur’anic stories serve as illustrations of God’s attributes and provide assurance to the audience that they too can receive this care. Regularly revisiting these female figures within a devotional or ritual practice has the potential to transform individuals who approach it conscientiously.
The verses of the Qur’an elicit effects on readers, reciters, and listeners. For example, contemplating a narrative about a mother’s emotional struggle when forcibly separated from her child can generate empathy and motivate action, such as advocating for children displaced from their families by governments. On another level, God’s revelation to the mother of Moses assures her to have faith and trust in God’s promise, offering a broader lesson about the effectiveness of patient perseverance.
and transmitting religious knowledge predates Western-styled modernity and the discourse on women’s rights. However, historically, Muslim women scholars tended to specialize in disciplines focused on transmission, such as hadith studies, rather than disciplines that involve authorial creation. Consequently, aside from contemporary women scholars, there is a limited number of works by women religious scholars.
While historians acknowledge the legacy of Muslim women scholars, their contributions have been marginal compared to the extensive works authored by men. Social and political struggles in the wake of European colonialism directly hindered institutions supporting Islamic learning, including women’s teaching and transmission.
However, these dynamics limiting women’s participation in the scholarly enterprise cannot be solely attributed to colonialism. Even before European-styled modernity, women rarely authored scholarly works, despite their learning and occasional prominence as teachers. For example, it is challenging to name works of Qur’anic exegesis authored by women. This pattern extends to other disciplines of Islamic knowledge production.
After extensively studying the Qur’anic depictions of women and exploring women’s contributions to Islamic intellectual history, we recognize the societal factors that constrained women’s scholarship. Simultaneously, we find the Qur’an to be affirming of women’s intellect and spiritual aptitude, rather than demeaning or discrediting. Not only we find validation for women’s capabilities, but we also encounter women teachers within the Qur’anic narratives.
Engaging with the speech of Allah about these women allows us to contemplate deeper questions about womanhood, female worth, and women’s dignity. For example, “Does the Qur’an affirm female faith, wisdom, and knowledge in ways that have not yet been fully appreciated?” The answers to these questions hold implications for contemporary Qur’anic scholarship and conceptions of gender within Muslim communities. Most importantly, the stories of women in the Qur’an can impact how women view themselves and their intellectual and spiritual potential.
(The author is a student of Science, Philosophy and Theology)
