Sex, Marriage and Family in World Religions (36 page)

These cultural elements, having been mixed with pure Islamic law, were in time mistaken by Muslims to be part of it.

More recently, various Muslim jurists and Islamic countries have come together to reexamine pressing issues and reenergize scholarly activity. As a result, there is currently a movement to produce fresh Islamic jurisprudence that abides by the best of the traditional methodologies yet incorporates in its interpretation the realities of our modern societies and times.

The selections in this chapter were chosen to inform the reader about the basics of Islam as well as the vast diversity of juristic views within it, which range from the misogynist to the feminist. The introduction explains some of the roots of this diversity. The rich tradition of
ijtihad
in Islam opened the door for later jurists, male and female, to review the work of earlier jurists, keep what is suitable, and dispense with what is not, relying mainly on the Qur’an as the leading and final arbiter. This means that this critical period of Islamic history can be very exciting for those who want to lead change. It is a period of struggle of ideas, old versus new, and authentic versus opportunistic or apologetic.

c r e a t i o n a n d t h e i d e n t i t y o f o r i g i n o f w o m e n a n d m e n

The Islamic worldview is based on the fundamental concept of
tawhid,
or the unicity of God as Creator and Supreme Will. Any denial of this unicity constitutes
shirk
(the opposite of
tawhid
), which denial is a sin God tells us He will
Islam
157

not forgive. As the Creator, “There is nothing Whatever like unto Him”

(Q. 42:11). So, it is inappropriate to ask about the gender of the Creator; for he created genders. While the Qur’anic story of creation is basically similar to that in the Bible, there are some important differences. Most significantly, there is nothing in the Qur’an to suggest that Eve was created from Adam’s rib. All the verses related to creation in the Qur’anic passages below state flatly that men and women have the same essence and were created from a “single soul,” or
nafs
. Men and women enjoy mutual rights and responsibilities, and they are expected to dwell with their mates in love, mercy, and tranquillity. The Qur’an goes to great lengths to emphasize the essential “sameness” of men and women, while at the same time acknowledging the different challenges and responsibilities they face in their lifecycles and the ongoing lifecycles of their families and communities.

The texts below include Qur’anic passages on the original equality of the sexes in creation and a reported
hadith
that already reflects the incorporation into the Islamic tradition of the biblical “Adam’s rib” account in which Eve was created secondarily from Adam. These are followed by several commentaries, some of which seek to reconcile these apparently divergent creation accounts. The traditional commentary of al-Tabari (838–923) in the ninth century emphasizes the relation of tranquillity between the sexes. The modern commentary of Rida in the nineteenth century acknowledges both creation accounts to emphasize gender sameness and difference as the basis for complementarity and cooperation between the sexes. The contemporary interpretations of Amuli (b. 1933), a religious scholar, and Nasseef (b. 1944), a Saudi woman activist, squarely reject the
hadithic
accounts of Eve as being created from Adam’s “crooked rib.” They return to the Qur’anic principle of sameness of origin and gender equality based on being created from a “single soul.” We close with a passage from a recent speech by the King of Morocco in which he used the prophetic
hadith
about women being the split halves of men to call for modernization of the family code and improvement of the status of women in his country.

Document 3–1

q u r ’ a n 4 : 1

O humankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single soul,4 created, of like nature, his mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women; reverence God, through whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (that bore you): for God ever watches over you.

[Al-Nisa’, The Women, Abdullah Yusuf ‘Ali,
The Meaning
of the Holy Qu’ran
(MD: Amana, 1991)]

158

a z i z a h a l - h i b r i a n d r a j a ’ m . e l h a b t i
Document 3–2

q u r ’ a n 7 : 1 8 9

It is He Who created you from a single soul
(nafs),
and made of her a mate of like nature, so that he [the mate] might dwell with her in tranquillity.5

[Al-a’raf, The Heights, Abdullah Yusuf ‘Ali,
The Meaning
of the Holy Qu’ran
(MD: Amana, 1991)]

Document 3–3

q u r ’ a n 3 5 : 1 1

And God did create you from dust; then from a sperm-drop; then He made you in pairs.

[Fatir, The Originator of Creation, Abdullah Yusuf ‘Ali,
The Meaning
of the Holy Qu’ran
(MD: Amana, 1991)]

Document 3–4

h a d i t h

Women are but
shaqa’iq
(the split halves) of men.

[Hadith, narrated by À’ishah in Abu-Dawud,
Sunan Abu Dawud,
bk. 1, Taharah (ablation) no. 236 (9th century ce)]

Document 3–5

h a d i t h

The Prophet said, “Act kindly towards woman, for they were created from a rib and the most crooked part of a rib is its top. If you attempt to straighten it you will break it, and if you leave it alone it will remain crooked; so act kindly towards women.

[Hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah, in al-Bukhari,
Abu Abdillah Muhammad Ibn
Ismail
(810–870 ce),
Al-Jami’ al-Sahih
(The Sound Comprehensive Collection of Hadiths), known as
Sahih al-Bukhari,
al-Bukhari,
Sahih al-Bukhari,
vol. 7, bk. 62, Nikah (Marriage), no. 114 (Beirut: Dar al-Ma’rifah, n.d.; 9th century ce)]

Document 3–6

a b u j a ’ f a r m u h a m m a d i b n j a r i r a l - t a b a r i Our view regarding the verse: “O people! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single soul” is that God described Himself as the sole creator of all humankind, from a single being. He also made known to His subjects
Islam
159

the process of genesis as it sprung out from a single being or soul. He draws their attention to the fact that they are the progeny of one single father and one single mother and that they all relate to each other. Therefore, their rights upon each other are established in the same way as the right of a person upon his/

her own brother, for they all come from the same father and the same mother.

In fact, their responsibility to take care of each other involved by the distant relationship to the same father is similar to the one involved by close familial relationships. And since they are all related, they have to be just with each other and not to commit injustices towards each other, so that the stronger among them protects the weaker as God ordered. . . .

When God gave Adam his dwelling in heaven, he was walking amidst it lonely and without a mate with whom he could find tranquility. Adam then fell asleep for a little while, and when he woke up he found, sitting by his head, a woman who was created from of his own ribs. He asked her what she was and she answered: “A Woman!” He then asked her why she was created, and she said, “so that you might find tranquility with me.”

From what we learned from the people of the Book and specifically from the people of the Torah, and from others people of Knowledge . . . God sent Adam into a state of sleep, he then took one rib from his left side and then mended his body—all this while Adam was asleep—till God the Almighty created Adam’s mate, Eve, from that same rib. He then made her into a woman so that Adam finds tranquility with her. And when God lifted Adam from his state of sleep, Adam saw her by his side and said,—as the People of the book narrate but God knows better—“My flesh! My blood! My mate!” And he found tranquility in her. . . .

[Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari,
Jami’ al-Bayane fi Tafsir al-Qur’an
(The Exhaustive Commentary on the Qur’an), 23 vols.

(Beirut: Dar al-Ma’rifah, 1978), 4:149 (9th century ce)]

Document 3–7

m u h a m m a d r a s h i d r i d a

And it is He who created you from a single
nafs
[soul or being] from the same kind and essence. He perfected its image to make a perfect human being. “And then He made from its own kind its mate to find quiet of mind in it.” . . . They were a pair, male and female, as stated in the verse: “O people, We created you from a male and a female,” as He has created the species from pairs, males and females. . . . We also see that each cell from which our bodies develop encloses two nuclei, male and female. Once joined together, they yield a new cell and so on. One also notices that the creation of human beings comes from joining two elements of a complementary nature, together as a pair. God says: “And He truly created the pair, male and female, from the small life-germ [sperm]

when it is adapted.” But we do not know how the first being doubled to yield the male and female genders. God says: “I made them not witness the creation of heavens and earth, nor their own creation.”

160

a z i z a h a l - h i b r i a n d r a j a ’ m . e l h a b t i And in the Torah of the people of the Book, it is said that Eve was created from one of Adam’s ribs. . . . We, therefore, use the
hadith
of our Prophet in this context, which reads: “take good care of women, for woman was created from a crooked rib, and that the most crooked part of the rib is its higher end.

If you, therefore, try to redress it you might break it. But if you leave it as it is, it stays crooked. You, hence, shall treat women well.” . . . The common meaning that comes to mind from the interpretations of different
hadith
experts is that women were created differently from men. They have their own flaws and differences. So are men indeed. They also have their own flaws and differences.

This is why when Ibn Hibban [d. 965] narrated the
hadith,
according to Abu Hurayrah, “woman was created from a crooked rib,” he explained that it is similar to God’s saying: “man was created from hastiness,” which underlines the inherent flaw of human beings known as impatience.

[Muhammad Rashid Rida,
Tafsir al-Qur’an al Hakim
(Commentary on the Wise Qur’an) (known as
Tafsir al-Manar
), 20 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Ma’rifah, n.d), 9:517

(19th century ce)]

Document 3–8

j a v a a d i a m u l i

The meaning of the verse is, first, that all human beings, from either gender, be it women or men (for the term
people
6 includes everybody,) were created from a single essence and entity, and the principle of potential life emanates from the single source. Second, that the first woman was the wife of the first man, and that she was created from the same essence and entity and not from a different essence, she was not part of a man or an auxiliary or a parasitical being or anything similar to that. Nay, God created the first woman from the same essence and origin and then created all men and women from these two humans. . . . These issues mentioned above could be found in the verse: “It is He Who created you from a single soul
(nafs)
and made its mate of like nature [7:189] and the verse: “He created you (all) from a single soul
(nafs),
then created, of like nature, its mate. . . . ” [39:6]. These verses, which deal with the origin of creation, state the sameness of the essence of the principle of potential life from which both men and women were created, as were created the first man and woman from which came all human beings. There are also
hadiths
7

that refer to the principle of potential life. . . . “Abu Abdillah . . . was asked about the creation of Eve, and why some people say she was created from one of Adam’s left flank’s ribs, he said, “God be exalted and glorified above all what they claim. Does he who says this believe that God was not able to create a mate for Adam from something else but Adam’s rib? . . . And he who says this opens the door for the ill-hearted people to say that Adam was copulating with himself if Eve was a part of his own body.” He then said, “He created Eve for him. . . . And Adam—peace be upon him—said, “O Lord! What is this beautiful creation whose presence has comforted me and pleased my eyes?” God said,
Islam
161

“O Adam! This is my subject Eve; do you wish that she be with you, keeps you company, talks to you and follows you?” Adam said, “Yes, O Lord! And all praise be unto you for it forever.” And God said, “Then seek her in marriage from me for she is my subject. She could also be your wife for sexual desires.” He stirred sexual desire in him. Adam then said, “O Lord! I seek her from you, so what would make you agree to it?” And God said, “I would give you my blessing if you teach her the principles of my faith.”

This
hadith
. . . sheds light on important issues, first, that the creation of Eve from Adam’s left rib is not true, and second, that the creation of Eve was a wonderful and separate event exactly like Adam’s creation. . . . ”8

[Javaadi Amuli,
Jamal al-Mar’ah wa Jalaluha
(Woman’s Beauty and Magnificence) (Beirut: Dar al-Hadi, 1994), pp. 25–26]

Document 3–9

f a t i m a n a s e e f

“From” does not imply that Eve is necessarily a part of Adam. However, it indicates that the creation of Adam took precedence. Therefore, God (SWT)9

says, “ . . . Created you from a single soul.” Sheikh Abdulkareem al-Khateeb [
sic
], says, “It means that He created from this soul, from the same kind and the same substance, a spouse to that one soul, which does not refer to Adam as human being. It refers to a substance set in readiness for the creation of mankind [
sic
]. From this substance Adam has been created, and from this same substance his wife Eve has been created. . . . ”

I personally favor the . . . [above] interpretation for the following reasons:

The interpretation based on the creation of Eve from Adam’s rib originates from the Torah and it is not mentioned in our prophetic narrations;