Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

From Domination to Moral Responsibility: Kecia Ali’s Theological-Ethical Reading of Q. 4:34 (al-Rijālu Qawwāmūna ʿalā al-Nisāʾ)

Document Type : Original article

Authors
Asiyeh Homa 1
Soheila Pirouzfar 2
Ahmad Reza Tahayori 3
1 PhD student in Educational Sciences, Qurʾān and Sciences, Mashhad Representative Office, Al-Mustafa Al-Alamiyah University, Mashhad, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Qurʾān and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Qurʾān and Science, Khorasan Representative Office, Al-Mustafa International University, mashhad, Iran.
10.22034/naghdeara.2026.552889.1353
Abstract
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.
Keywords
Feminist Exegesis
Islamic Feminism
Patriarchal Jurisprudence (Fiqh)
Gender Justice
Nushūz
Marital Ethics
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 15 October 2025
  • Revise Date 01 January 2026
  • Accept Date 16 February 2026