Document Type : .
Authors
1
PhD student in Islamic Theology, Shahid Motahari University, Tehran, Iran
2
Associate Professor of Philosophy Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University Tehran, Iran
10.30465/scs.2025.50880.2960
Abstract
Introduction
"Feminism" is one of the intellectual movements of the West, which was initially a social movement centered on the defense of women's rights, but gradually entered other fields. The introduction of feminism into the field of theology is referred to as "feminist theology". There are many disagreements about what feminist theology is, and part of it is due to the theoretical diversity of the schools that are formulated under feminist theology. However, "breaking the monopoly of male narratives of religion and striving for influential female narratives in religion" can be considered as the common core of many feminist theological schools. Feminist theology tries to reread traditional theology with a focus on women's perspective and rethink the three main concepts of a theological system, namely "God", "human" and "world". A different idea of each of these three can lead to a different theological system.
The focus of this article is to examine the "image of human" in the works of Amina wadud. She came to Islam from Protestant Christianity and in her most famous work "Quran and Woman", she tried to reread the Quran from a woman's perspective. So far, various issues have been mentioned in the criticism of wadod's opinions. It seems that the fundamental issue that has been neglected from the point of view of the critics is her idea of a human. The basic axis in the formation of the concept of a human, like other subjects, is "feminism". The discussion of human in feminist theology can be examined from different dimensions. The present study examines the views of wadud as a theological system centered on the basic pillar of "human". In this article, the most important topics that will be discussed under "image of human" are: 1) the creation of man, 2) the nature of man, 3) the mission of man in the world, and 4) the end of man.
Materials & Methods
The present research is a research, theoretical and its method is analytical-critical. The research approach is also qualitative; Qualitative research requires identifying sources related to the research topic, studying texts, understanding the meaning of the text and extracting the desired content from these sources, establishing a relationship between the content and describing and analyzing and criticizing them, and discussing and concluding the collected information.
Discussion and Results
Wadud considers humans to be equal in creation, and by using Quranic verses, she rejects common Christian teachings such as "the creation of woman from the side of man", "original sin", "woman as the initiator and tempter of sin", "the fall of man due to sin", "superiority of man over woman", and by emphasizing the marital system of creation, she considers the necessity of existence and the ontological and spiritual value of men and women to be equal. Wadud's idea of man is influenced by her idea of "God" and "monotheism", so she considers man to be a being with two dimensions of "femininity" and "masculinity" that should try to maintain and establish interaction between both dimensions. One of the essentials of the two-dimensionality of man is the legitimization of different sexual orientations and desires, which, while clarifying this matter, Wadud considers it a sign of "universalism" and "pluralism" in the Islamic religion. In her opinion, Islam includes not only masculinity and femininity, but also sexual, religious, religious and other pluralities in order to prove its universality. Despite these pluralities, the mission of all humans in the world is to "establish justice" and in this direction, humans, both men and women, must have "reciprocal relations" with each other; It means that no one considers himself superior to another and no role has gender monopoly, and it is possible for women to be employed and play a role in government and legislative jobs, so that the act of piety has the same criteria for women and men. Finally, humans will enter the afterlife and will be punished based on their actions, regardless of their gender. Therefore, the gender interpretations about the rewards of the hereafter are due to the time, place and language limitations of the 7th century Arabia, which requires a "hermeneutic interpretation" centered on the "monotheistic paradigm" and "feminism".
Conclusion
Wadud's idea of human is facing many criticisms. In short, it can be said that detail-oriented, opinion-based interpretation, theoretical utilitarianism, resorting to allegory instead of proof, ambiguity in expression, taking a position against innate awareness, relying on false premises, etc. are among these criticisms.
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