نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
This article critically examines Kecia Ali’s feminist interpretation of Q. 4:34, a pivotal verse on male authority (qawwāmiyyah) and marital conduct. Ali, an American Muslim feminist scholar working within Islamic theology, distinguishes between the Qurʾān as divine revelation and its patriarchal interpretations in classical jurisprudence (fiqh). The study analyzes Ali’s three-level critique: literary-linguistic, historical, and political-social. Linguistically, Ali reinterprets qawwāmūn as conditional financial responsibility rather than inherent superiority, and ḍarb (striking) as incompatible with the Qurʾān’s core ethical values of justice and human dignity. Historically, she demonstrates how early jurists, influenced by slavery and male ownership, conceptualized marriage as milk al-buḍʿ (ownership of the vulva), turning mahr into compensation for male sexual access. Politically, she critiques how modern Muslim states codified these rulings into family laws, using nushūz (marital discord) and enforced obedience to control women’s bodies. Ali argues that most patriarchal readings stem not from revelation but from historical power structures. Operating from within Islamic theological premises—such as divine unity and human vicegerency (khalīfah)—she advocates for an ethical, justice-centered hermeneutic that prioritizes moral responsibility over male authority, offering a reformist model for reinterpreting gendered Qurʾānic passages in the contemporary world.
کلیدواژهها English