Qur’an and Social Sciences

Qur’an and Social Sciences

The Effect of Social Custom on the Attitudes of Interpreters and Jurists on “Gender Justice” with Emphasis on Karen Bauer’s Opinion

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Nosrat َNilsaz 1
Bibi sadat Razi Bahabadi 2
Parisa Askarsemnani 3
1 Associate Professor, Department of Quran and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Quran and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
3 PhD student in Quran and Hadith Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding author)
10.22034/arq.2025.221892
Abstract
The attitudes of interpreters and jurists inevitably change with the passage of time and the changing social and cultural circumstances of each period. Incorporating contemporary custom and requirements into scholars' interpretive approaches and jurisprudential conclusions seems inevitable, even necessary. The issues related to “gender justice” and “gender hierarchy” are among the challenging issues that scholars have adopted a specific approach to in each period, and undoubtedly, the customs of society can affect the scholars’ attitudes towards these issues. Karen Bauer, in her book "Gender Hierarchy in the Qur'an: Ancient Interpretations, New Responses", taking the premise that some verses of the Qur'an contain the concept of “gender hierarchy,” conducts a historical (chronological) study of interpretations related to the aforementioned verses in interpretive sources from the Middle Ages to the modern era, and claims that social custom has been effective in shaping interpretive and jurisprudential theories. In this study, while translating and categorizing Bauer’s comments, her claim about the influence of social custom on the interpretation of commentators and the inferences of jurists has been examined using a descriptive-analytical method to explain and examine scholars’ attitudes towards “gender justice.” According to the results of this study, in the Middle Ages, when social custom tended to favor male supremacy, “gender hierarchy” was considered the same as justice. However, in the contemporary era, when the accepted norm of society is equality between men and women, the “gender hierarchy” is considered a violation of justice. In the meantime, some revisionist scholars believe that in order to achieve gender justice, the verses regarding gender hierarchy should be reinterpreted and the traditional rulings on women should be replaced with rulings that are appropriate for the present era. Undoubtedly, social custom can lead to the reinterpretation of verses and the evolution of rulings. However, it should be noted that “gender justice” from the perspective of Islam means that men and women, by accepting their natural differences, should be placed in roles that are appropriate to their physical and mental capabilities in order to create the basis for family health and the dynamism of society.
Keywords
Karen Bauer
Gender Hierarchy
Social Custom
Gender Justice

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Qur’an and Social Sciences
Volume 5, Issue 1 - Serial Number 17
Spring 2025
Pages 170-205

  • Receive Date 02 January 2025
  • Revise Date 11 April 2025
  • Accept Date 23 April 2025