Analysis Of The Book ' Genesis '

There are various issues arising from the patriarchal interpretation of Quranic verses that have prompted much debate about the status of women in the Muslim society and the use of Quranic verses by Islamic jurists to determine Shariah law formations. The classical ways of reading and interpreting the Quran and hadith were patriarchal that extensively contribute to developing sexual and gender discrimination within Muslims and are the core source behind this male-dominant Islamic thinking tradition. In this annotated bibliography, I will use the works of Aziza Al-Hibri, Nawal H. Ammar,

I find that Genesis 1 is very interesting. It’s hard to accept “the beginning” and God’s creation of the heavens and the earth. I for one believe in, what most people call it, the big bang. Along with believing in evolution, the words in Genesis make it hard for me to understand, mostly because I look at things in a scientific perspective. Although I believe in an almighty being “God” I see the words in Genesis as a metaphorically term reference. For those of you who have submitted yourselves to God 100% you don’t question Genesis but, for myself, and others like me, we read Genesis with a different perspective in mind. While reading Genesis I interpret such quotes like, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light; and God saw the light was good, and he separated light from darkness.” For me this is merely a metaphor stated that the people saw light and saw that it was good. I want to believe that the Bible isn’t just a bunch of made up tales, but for me I find it hard to believe certain things written in the text.

By this time, Jacob had heard that Shechem had caused his daughter to become impure. Jacob waited until his sons were home from working in the fields to tell them of the news about Dinah and Shechem. Just as Jacob’s sons arrived Hamor was asking Jacob for marriage arrangements for Shechem. When Jacob’s sons heard was Shechem had done to Dinah they were enraged. According to the law in Israel, what Shechem had done was intolerable. Despite this, Hamor pleaded for his son to have Dinah as his wife. Hamor said that if Jacob gives him his daughters, then Hamor would give Jacob’s sons his daughters. Hamor went on to say that the land will become partially theirs. Hamor promised to give Jacob and his sons whatever they could possibly ask for if Shechem could marry Dinah. The sons of Jacob said they could not possibly allow Dinah to be wedded to Shechem because he was not circumcised. The matrimony would cause much disgrace to Jacob and his family as a result of Shechem’s uncirumcision. In order to permit the

“In the battle for gender parity, those who stand guard at the gate posts of Muslim status quo have sometimes reacted vehemently against claims for justice.”(xviii) In this quote, Amina Wadud highlights her quest for proving the Qur’an is an ungendered text and discusses types of reactions to her book Qur’an and Women. Wadud’s book, published in 1992, redefines the way the Qur’anic text views women and is the genesis of more scholarly works and discussions on the topic of women. Wadud is the most influential woman scholar of the Qur’an in history. Her purpose is to solely look at the Qur’anic text itself and not the hadith or Islamic traditions that have evolved since it’s revelation. She is clear to state that if the equality between males

The topic of Islam has been a very controversial one in past years, and more specifically there have been a lot of misconceptions regarding Muslim women. Islamophobia or the dislike and prejudice towards Islam and Muslims has been a phenomenon the media in the United States and Europe have been infamous for exacerbating. Stemming from this prejudice towards Muslims, women in Islam have been often targeted and labeled as "oppressed" or given fewer rights than men in Islam. When referring to the facts from the Islamic Holy Scripture, the Quran and the teachings and sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad we find this is far from the truth.

Islam has always practiced around misogynistic actions and beliefs. The misogyny appears in Islam in many forms. Ranging from Muhammad’s ‘words of wisdom’ to unjust rights and to rape, the religion achieved multiple acts of oppression and hatred towards females.

In the Islamic religion the woman are treated as an unnecessary being to this world. They were simply here to work and reproduce. Muslim women have always been lower then men. In inheritance, testimony, and status. "...And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them, and men are a degree above them." [Noble Quran 2:228] The woman were blamed

When I started the book of Genesis it was like reading a fairy tale. I was able to know the creation process and how very old people can get back then. Also the first encounter of man with Satan in the Garden of Eden was fascinating. It was so sad that the fall of man happened and is still continuing now. We were doomed the moment we step into the world and it seems hopeless. But God was forgiving and was able to appreciate the loyalty of some of the earlier man. Noah was one of the faithful servants that through faith obeyed the command of God to build an arc. The great flood was too difficult to comprehend but it seems logical if we have all the ice melted and all clouds dissipated maybe it can cover the world with water. Another interesting story was with Abraham who

One of the major themes of the book of Genesis, is God’s grace, love and patience. God loved us so much that He gave His own son to die on the cross to save us. But why was this necessary in the first place? The obvious answer is because of our sin. We are sinful humans to begin with, starting with Adam and Eve and continuing from there. So why are we still alive? Ananias and Saphira both lied (sin) and they both ended up dying because of it. We are told that the consequences of sin is death, so why are we not dead? Why are we still alive? We are still alive because of God’s love and His grace. God knew that we would be sinners, He knew that we would screw up, that we would disobey Him, yet instead of giving up on us and sending us straight

The Quran states: "That man can have nothing but what he strives for" (QS. 53:39). The word ‘man’ used in this verse not only covers the patriarchal nature, but the androgynous nature of humans as a whole. Women were once considered property of men; even if not as property then only as pinch-hit for male labour. The highest rank given to a woman was of one who bore male labours and fed them. No voting rights, no right to run for office, or the right to own property of their own. Male members of the society were allowed to marry as many women as they yearned for while women had to adhere to monogamy just to stop the property from being transferred to someone else’s’ children. Women had to strive a lot to get a pinch of rights. Even today

Genesis chapters one through three is about God’s journey creating the world over a period of six days, resting on the seventh. Included in these chapters is the famous story of Adam and Eve, the first man made by God himself and the first woman made from man’s rib. Also included in these chapters is their fateful decision to eat the forbidden fruit based on the word of the snake. I have heard some of the more well-known stories and lessons in the few years I attended Sunday school. Therefore, this is not my first time hearing this story, but it is my first time reading it through myself.

The Quran also justifies polygamy in the Muslim lifestyle. The Muslim social order was vehemently opposed to self-determination for women and declared only men could repudiate their spouses. The fear of self- determination was linked to fitna, so women had to be constrained. The family hierarchy of male domination was determined by the Prophet’s life with women and leads readers to recognize the complexity of masculine vulnerability to the attraction of women. The sexual power of women over men has dictated much of the Islamic sharia regarding marriage. Men had the right to sexual satisfaction, but women also had to be sexually satisfied so as not to commit or tempt other men to fornication.

It seems that injustice to Muslim women are widespread in actual life.However, once we get to the Qur’an, we could find that God’s justice as well as compassion towards women are reflected throughout this noblest text of Islam. Dr. Hassan, as a Muslim woman and a scholar of Islam,devotes her career in advocating for Muslim women. According to her analysis of Qur’an, it “promoted religious and social equality and justice between men and women and that what the Qur’an basically aimed at was the removal of certain abuses to which women were subjected.”1(Hassan) In this case, how might the discrepancy between Islamic ideals and actual practice has come about? Hassan provides us one possible explanation: patriarchalism empowered Muslim men to interpret these Islamic texts as well as Islamic tradition. Therefore, Muslim men were able to “define the

The status of women in pre-Islamic Arabia was extremely low. Infanticide, patrilineal marriage and polygyny were only a few things that women had to live with. A woman had no share in inheritance because she was regarded as unwise and incapable of effectively managing her inherited property, and although women’s statuses varied from tribe to tribe, a woman was almost always a subordinate of her father or husband. A female child born was the possibility of disgrace, and the affirmation of having an economic burden to take care of. Of course, Islam changed the structure of Arab society and made many reforms concerning the rights of women, giving them a much higher status and the respect that they had previously so sorely lacked, clarifying that they had the same obligations and responsibilities towards their faith and society that men did.

          You might have heard at some time or the other that Islam teaches that women are