Where did you Came from?
Woman from Man, for Man, against Man? Vol 1/3
The creation narrative is at the forefront of the factors that shape women’s identity and their place in society. In the established Islam understanding, it is said that woman was created from man, for man and became the source of problems by misleading Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. Although the negative perception about women in the middle east was already rooted in a pre-Islamic patriarchal culture, currently it is tried to be grounded by this ‘religious’ narrative about the beginning of humanity.
On the other hand, the perspective of the Qur’an, which is the source of Islam, on the creation story is completely different;
- it does not say a woman was created from a man
- it does not say she was created for man
- it does not put more blame on women for the first sin committed by the mankind
First of all, there is not a single verse of the Qur’an that states or implies that “woman is created from man”. Instead, it says, woman and man, they both created from the same origin called “nafsi wahida” in verse 4:1;
“O people, be aware of your Lord who has created you from “nafsi wahida” and He created from “it” its spouse and sent forth from both many men and women…”4:1
As it can be seen, this verse says, without specifying gender that wherever the first human being was created, his/her spouse was also created from there. Now, let’s look more closely at what “nafsi wahida” means. When we look at their other usages in the Qur’an, we see that the word “wahida” means “only one” or “only one type”. As an example in 2:61 people complains to Moses in the desert;
“… O Moses, we will not be patient to only one type (wahida) of food….”2:61
Besides, the word “nafs” means in many verses “life” or “living being”. For example, 3:185 says;
“Every living being (nafs) will taste death…” 3:185
Moreover, some scholars understand the word “nafs” also as “kind” or “species”. Sportingly, the following verse 3:164 says that God sent messengers to people from their own “kind” and interestingly the next verse (30:21) talks about the spouses by using the same word;
“God has bestowed favor upon those who acknowledge by sending them a messenger from their own kind (nafs) reciting His signs…” 3:164
“From His signs is that He created for you spouses from your own kind (nafs)…”30:21
If we combine these pieces of information we reach the meaning of “nafsi wahida” which is “only one (type of) living being/only one species”. So the verse 4:1 emphasizes that woman and man were created from their own kind, from the same kind of species, not from each other. While this is the case, it is difficult to understand why some translators translated this phrase in Qur’an as “Adam” and put women into a secondary, complementary position.
On the other hand, the belief that Eve was created from Adam’s rib bone comes to Islam from Jewish and Christian traditions. Yet, some theologians argue that the word translated as his “rib” in the Old Testament can actually mean his “side/very nature/own kind” similarly with the Qur’an. But for now, I leave this part to people researching the Bible.
In short, according to Qur’an, both sexes were created from the same origin and they are ontologically equal. The views presenting women as a second class in the established Islam understanding only comes from non-Qur’anic texts and the interpretations of the clergies having a patriarchal background.
In Vol 2/3 I will analyze the second claim stating “women were created for men” and try to understand the Qur’an’s perspective on it (here). Enjoy reading.
Sources;
https://www.canertaslaman.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/islamvekadin.pdf
