A Study of Fatemah Mernisi's Historical Approach to the Holy Qur'an; Case study of 34:4

In recent centuries, with the increase in social presence and level of literacy of women in society, many conversations, challenges and even conflicts about women and their place in Islam and Islamic jurisprudence have been emerged. Believing in the misunderstanding of interpreters on verses related to women, some new thinker Muslims known as Islamic feminism, have emphasized the need to reconsider these verses and offer different readings through various approaches, including historical analysis. Among these, verse 34 of Surah al-Nisá is the most challenging verse in which issues such as supervision of men over family (Qawāmūn), the superiority of men, the obedience of women to their husbands, and the permission of women to be beaten by men have been raised in its understanding. This article presents and analyzes the historical attitude of Fatemah Mernissi as one of the prominent figures of Islamic feminism through a descriptive-analytical method. After explaining the two different approaches of Mernissi to Islam and Mernissi's specific attitude towards the Qur'an in the later period, his views on verse 34 of Surah al-Nisá and the character of Sakina bint al-Hussein (as) have been expressed and analyzed. One-sided analysis and not referring to valid documents are among the most important drawbacks of Mernissi's historical attitude.