On March 18 in 2005 Amina Wadud, Afro-American scholar and converted Muslim led the Friday sermon of a group of 100 women and men in an Anglican church in Manhattan. Following that I want to outline her methodological approach, focusing on four points: the reader as subject, the Arabic language as barrier to interpretation, historical contextualization and gender as interpretive category.įurther, I will give an overview about her exegetical results concerning the question of gender equality in the Qur’an before I will demonstrate her approach on the interpretation of surah 4:34. I intend to integrate her position in a general Islamic feminist discourse and its opinion concerning quranic exegesis.

Those principles have to be re-examined to come to an understanding of the revelation that is appropriate for modern times. She wants to show how the egalitarian quranic principles concerning women have been distorted through the history of exegesis. The main focus of her work is in finding ways to produce a gender-conscious tafsir of the Qur’an based on a hermeneutic methodology. In this paper I will introduce the North-American Muslim scholar and feminist Amina Wadud.

Hermeneutics and methodology in Amina Wadud’s Workģ.2 Arabic language as barrier to interpretationĤ.1 General conclusions about women and the Qur’anĤ.2 The traditional interpretation of surah 4:34Ĥ.3 Amina Wadud’s interpretation of surah 4:34 Amina Wadud’s work in context of Muslim feminism and Qur’an exegesisģ.

Qur'an and Woman by Amina Wadud