Muslim Women between Text and Context: An Exploration of Qurʾānic Exegesis with a Focus on Q 4:34

Abstract

This thesis investigates and analyses the interpretations of the Qurʾānic verse 4:34 by selected classical and modern scholars, with a particular focus on qawwām, nushūz and ḍarb, using some key ideas associated with critical discourse analysis and adopting Abdullah Saeed’s contextualist framework for interpreting the ethical–legal texts of the Qurʾān. The thesis takes the position that the interpretation of the Qurʾān both in the classical and modern periods is influenced by the social and cultural contexts in which the commentators functioned and demonstrates this by examining a range of commentaries on Q 4:34. The thesis also explores how selected Saudi scholars understand Q 4:34 and the kinds of approaches they use in the context of today. This research contributes to the existing literature on Muslim women, gender equality and interpretation of the Qurʾān. The findings suggest that the contextualist approach in this research leads to a different understanding of the key concepts of qawwām, nushūz and ḍarb in Q 4:34. Additionally, this research explores how the socio-cultural contexts impacted the selected 50 commenters’ discourses as well as how their interpretive discourses were relevant to the context in which they live.