Many contemporary debates about “women’s status in Islam” hinge on a few key topics: the veil, polygamy, and a few Qur’anic verses that are seen to prescribe female subordination—to men in general and husbands in particular. The most important of these verses occurs in Surat al-Nisa’ (“Women”), the fourth chapter of the Qur’an. This essay will discuss verse 4:34
and the ways in which it has been interpreted both by traditional medieval scholars and by contemporary Muslims from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. The range of ways in which its key provisions have been interpreted illustrates both the presence of androcentrism and/or misogyny in some aspects of the Muslim tradition as well as possibilities for more egalitarian readings of scripture.
The Qur’an’s basic stance is that Muslim women are first and foremost Muslims, the religious equals of men (e.g., Q. 33:73). It refers to women and men as one another’s “protectors.” (Q. 9:71). Muslim marriage is described in terms of love and mercy (Q. 7:189; 30:21), and the Qur’an describes spouses as “garments” for one another (Q. 2:187). However, in a number of realms, above all marriage and divorce, Qur’anic rules are differentiated by sex, with men seemingly given greater rights and responsibilities.\
