‘nafs wahida’. One suggests that this initial entity refers to both sexes, male and female, which will subsequently evolve to produce the two partners and from there, all men and women. The other version considers that nothing in the Qur’an refutes the idea that this initial ‘nafs’ is feminine, a view which is supported by the fact the term ‘nafs’ itself is feminine and that the term ‘zawj’ – masculine – implies husband since, in another verse, it is said:
[…] so that man (zawjaha: ‘her husband’) might incline [with love] towards woman (nafs).5 (al-Aʿrāf 7: 189)
Imam ‘Abdu sees a justification of this reading in the titling of the surah, introduced by this verse, ‘surah al-Nisā’ or ‘The women’. This is a beautiful example of a feminine reading ….
It is clear that based on what some modern commentators have retained and without omitting the part of the occult or ‘ghayb’ which characterizes any sacred text, one can suggest without taking too many risks that, in the Qur’anic version, human creation is not expressed through gender and that ‘the Qur’an indiscriminately uses masculine and feminine words and images, in order to describe creation according to a single origin and substance. It is implicit in a great number of passages of the Qur’an that Allah’s original creation was an undifferentiated humanity, neither man, nor woman’.
It seems, therefore, that God created man and woman simultaneously from a single substance and that these two human beings constitute the gender-based elements of a single, same reality. This corresponds precisely to this notion of dualism of creation, which is referred to several times in the Qur’an:B
And in everything have We created oppos ites, so that you might bear in mind [that God alone is One]. (al-Dhāriyāt 51: 49)
In fact, man and woman as a ‘pair’ or ‘couple’ will confirm the central principle of the Qur’an: the creator is One whereas all of creation is in ‘pairs’. And the term ‘pairs’ itself speaks to the notion of equality at all levels. This reformist reading of human creation seems to be the closest to the Qur’anic message which promotes equality and human equity. One also notes that the entire story of the creation of humanity revolves around the central concept of Unicity or ‘tawḥīd’, which is the very essence of Muslim spirituality.
Nonetheless, it is worth noting that a number of classical exegetes refer to certain hadiths, which refer to women in general, in order to constrain more or less the meaning of the text, in particular that concerning creation, and to extract a particular conception, namely that of a subordinate creation of women! This sadly leads to a religious justification of the structural inferiority of women.
Concerning the hadith taken as reference for the interpretation of the verse on creation, it seems there exists at least three versions, more or less similar, according to which the Prophet describes woman as ‘created from a crooked rib which must not be forced at the risk of breaking it.’6
The study of the Prophetic tradition suggests this hadith was formulated within the context of a set of recommendations relative to male-female relations and according to which the Prophet encouraged men to display kindness and softness towards women. The resemblance of these hadiths to the story of Adam and Eve in the biblical tradition encouraged scholars to draw parallels and conclude that Eve was brought forth from one of Adam’s ribs. One notes in passing that the hadith in question nowhere refers to Adam. This interpretation is found traditionally in the majority of works of tafasīr despite the fact that, as we noted, nothing in the Qur’an affirms this concept.
One should not be surprised of this comparison undertaken between the tradition of the Prophet and the Judaeo-Christian myth because the hadith in question was elaborated in the context of a series of exhortations undertaken by the Prophet to his companions during the departing pilgrimage, where the topic itself was the recommendation to men to treat women well. The end of this hadith is the famous warning directed at believers: ‘Be good towards your women.’ The use of the imagery of the rib – and it is worth restating that the Prophet is not referring to Adam’s rib – is in fact a metaphor, used according to an allegorical linguistic style much appreciated by the Arabs of the time, in order to advise men to show sensitivity and kindness towards women. It is important to specify here that the said hadiths were not evoked by the Prophet in order to explain the biological aspect of human creation, as some contemporary7 Muslim thinkers rightly point out, rather the objective was to challenge certain sexist traditions according to a very pedagogical strategy.
The Prophet, as was his habit, sought to inculcate in his companions the rules of propriety and consideration towards women and, thus, to soften the harsh norms of the era.
It is, therefore, obvious that any interpretation which draws from the hadiths in order to advance arguments in favour of the secondary creation of women and which attempts to diminish the status of women is necessarily erroneous and must be considered as being in opposition to the fundamental principles of the Qur’an and of the teachings of the Prophet.
This type of allegation, which is at the root of an entire universal heritage of the depreciation (discrediting?) of women, has long justified – and continues to do so in many cultures – a logic of oppression and humiliation of women.
A scholar as famous as Imam al-Razi believes that, in the following verse, can be found the evidence that women were created only in order to satisfy men’s needs:
And among His wonders is this: He creates for you mates out of your own kind, so that you might incline towards them, and He engenders love and tenderness between you: in this, behold, there are signs indeed for people who think! (al-Rūm 30: 21)
‘There is proof in this verse that the creation of women is similar to that of animals, of plants and all other types of blessings[…] The creation of women is therefore a true blessing for us (men) and they have, therefore, essentially been created for us[…] This is explained through the fact that women are weak by their physical constitution, that they are foolish and puerile like children … ’8
If women were created by and for men, this confirms their structural inferiority and the requirement of their submissiveness. This type of assertion constitutes a recurring theme in all classical religious discourse and ends up outlining an ideological framework within which the subordination of women is incorporated into the language of the Sacred.
It is saddening to see the extent to which these scholars, who were negatively influenced by their socio-cultural environment and certain previous religious traditions, backed through their respective interpretations by an entire body of literature demeaning women and justifying the concept of male domination over women, in the name of Islam. From this, one understands how the vast majority of the religious arguments which legitimize the subordination of women draw their inspiration from this type of interpretation of Qur’anic verses, interpretations which with time are considered as somehow part of dogma, even confining the Qur’an itself to a secondary position.
It is well known that within other religious traditions, the indictment of the first woman, as being the one who led Adam – man – to be thrown out of Paradise, is obvious and this image of a temptress is undeniable. An entire legend full of imagery, with the forbidden tree, the snake and Eve, symbols of temptation and the fall from Eden, have been transmitted from generation to generation as being part of immutable religious concepts. None of these previous suppositions can be found in the Qur’an, not even in the form of a veiled reference.
Nonetheless, famous Muslim exegetes refer to these types of commentaries in their different works of tafasīr.9 In fact, an exegete as famous as al-Qurṭubi states in his
