The Creation of Women from the Perspective of Mufassirun and Muhaddithun between Past and Present Scholars

Abstract

The creation of women is under constant debate, not only among the Islamic scholars but outspreads to feminists both from the west as well muslims.This debate stems from the differing views of the preceding and contemporary scholars in interpreting the texts from the Quran and the Hadiths on the creation of human particularly Eve as the first woman created by Allah. The majority of the mufassirun and hadith scholars in the past pioneered the view that the origin of human; that Eve was created from the rib of Adam a.s. This view was regarded by the feminists as derogatory to women. The contemporary mufassirun and muhaddithun are however of the opposite opinion whereby Eve's creation was equal to that of Adam's a.s; thereby indicating that creation of Eve did not originate from Adam a.s. Hence this study was undertaken with the aim of reviewing the opinions of the tafsir and hadith figures by comparing the views between the past and present scholars in interpretation of Quranic texts as well as hadiths pertaining to the origin and creation of women. This study also extends to examining the arguments on which the opinions of each group were deduced.In order to achieve the above objectives, this qualitative form of study will employ data collection method, conducted through library research to obtain data relating to the origin of creation of women, in particular turath literatures in tafsir for example Tafsir Ibn Kathir and tafsir works by the leading tafsir scholars in the like of Syed Qutb; in addition to the past and present books on syarah hadith. The findings of this study show that the previous and present scholars of tafsir or hadith took different methodology in understanding both textual authorities.Unlike the previous scholars of tafsir and hadith, some of the contemporary scholars' understanding is that the texts are not to be construed literally; instead the texts need to be understood as parables and allegories thereby indicating that the creation of women is not from the ribs of Adam a.s.