Rereading the Qur'an Text as Women's Liberation Perspective Asma Barlas

Zaeni Anwar; Nailul Khoiril  Marom; Nur Arfiyah  Febriani

doi:10.71039/istifham.v3i3.126

Authors

Zaeni Anwar Universitas PTIQ Jakarta
Nailul Khoiril Marom Universitas PTIQ Jakarta, Indonesia
Nur Arfiyah Febriani Universitas PTIQ Jakarta, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71039/istifham.v3i3.126

Keywords:

Asma Barlas, Feminism Islam, Hermeneutika, Women's Liberation, Gender Tafsir

Abstract

This study examines Asma Barlas's thoughts on the rereading of the Qur'an text as a form of liberation of women from patriarchal interpretation. Using a descriptive qualitative approach and a literature review, this study examines Asma Barlas' main works, especially Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an, as well as secondary literature relevant to gender interpretation and Islamic feminism. The study's results show that Asma Barlas rejects the notion that the Qur'an is patriarchal. He emphasized that gender bias in interpretation is a historical and social product of male mufasir who live in a patriarchal system. Using historical and hermeneutic arguments, Barlas constructs an epistemology of egalitarianism rooted in the concept of monotheism, in which there is no hierarchy of power between men and women. His reinterpretation of verses such as Q.S. An-Nisa [4]:34 and Q.S. Al-Baqarah [2]:228 affirms that the terms qiwamah and "male degree" do not confer legitimacy or superiority, but rather entail functional social responsibility. Thus, this study confirms that the Qur'an contains the values of justice and gender equality, which can serve as a theological foundation for women's liberation in contemporary Islam.

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