ISLAM AND POLITICS

Was Eve (Hawa) born from the Crooked Rib of Adam?

The Quran considers both sexes as having originated from one living being and hence they enjoy the same status: It says; "O mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord who created you from a single (nafs) person, created of like nature, his mate (zawj), and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women" (Holy Quran 4:1).

The above verse presents the basic elements in the Quranic version of the story of the origins of humankind, that story commonly understood as the creation of Adam and Eve. To aid the understanding of this verse, Wadud tries to analyse certain key words, namely, nafs and zawj. Wadud argues that grammatically nafs is feminine, taking the corresponding feminine adjectival and verbal antecedents. Conceptually, nafs is neither masculine nor feminine, forming as it does an essential part of each being, male or female. Furthermore, in the Quranic account of creation, Allah never planned to begin the creation of humankind with a male person; nor does it ever refer to the origins of the human race with Adam. It does not even state that Allah began the creation of humankind with the nafs of Adam, the man. This omission is noteworthy because the Quranic version of the creation of humankind is not expressed in gender terms.

The other term of significance in Sura 4 verse 1 above, according to Wadud, is zawj. As a common term zawj is used in the Quran to mean mate, spouse, or group. This is the term used in referring to the second part in the creation of humankind, whom we have come to accept as Eve, the female of the original parents. However, she points out that grammatically zawj is masculine, taking the corresponding masculine adjectival and verbal antecedents. Conceptually, it is also neither masculine nor feminine, and is used in the Quran for plants (QS: 55:52) and animals (QS, 11:40), in addition to humans. Based on the two terms analysed, Wadud concludes that Allah or the Creator defines certain traits universal to all humans and not specific to one particular gender nor to any particular people from any particular place or time.

Commenting on that verse, Maulana Azad, as quoted by Engineer, also interprets this verse more or less in the same manner. He says that divine wisdom creates all others from one person. He, however, interprets nafs wahidat (one living being) as father. Whether it is one person, one living being or father, Engineer argues that the implication is the same: namely that all have originated from one living being, men and women, and hence enjoy equal status. The Quran, moreover, does not subscribe to the view that Eve was born from the crooked rib of Adam and thus has an inferior status.

posted by Alin at 9:20 PM