Gender Equality in the Qur’an: A Thematic and Critical Interpretation of Women-Related Verses

Rahmat Hamid (Universitas Islam Negeri Alauddin Makassar)
Halimah Basri (Universitas Islam Negeri Alauddin Makassar)
Achmad Abu Bakar (Universitas Islam Negeri Alauddin Makassar)
Muhammad Ismail (Institut Agama Islam Negeri Parepare)
Anisah Alamshah (Seri Begawan Religious Teacher University College)
Andi Adil Shafwan Shafwan (Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta)

AL-MAIYYAH: Media Transformasi Gender dalam Paradigma Sosial Keagamaan
Vol 18 No 1 (2025): AL-MAIYYAH

Gender inequality remains a persistent social challenge in many Muslim societies, where religious interpretations continue to shape understandings of women’s roles, rights, and social participation. Although the Qur’an is widely recognized as a source of human dignity, justice, and moral responsibility, selective and decontextualized interpretations of women-related verses have generated diverse and contested understandings of gender relations and women’s social agency. Existing scholarship has extensively examined Qur’anic perspectives on gender issues; however, many studies have primarily focused on normative theological debates while giving limited attention to how religious meanings are constructed through historical, interpretive, and socio-cultural contexts. This study aims to critically examine the construction of gender justice in Qur’anic discourse by exploring how women-related verses are interpreted across classical and contemporary Islamic intellectual traditions and how these interpretations shape contemporary understandings of women’s social agency. Employing a qualitative textual-hermeneutical approach, this study integrates thematic Qur’anic interpretation (tafsīr maudhū‘ī) with critical hermeneutics through an analysis of selected Qur’anic verses, classical and contemporary tafsir works, and gender-oriented Islamic scholarship. The findings demonstrate that Qur’anic discourse provides foundational principles of gender justice through the recognition of women’s human dignity, equal moral responsibility, spiritual accountability, and capacity for social participation. However, the interpretation of gender-related verses has been shaped by diverse historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts, resulting in different understandings of gender roles, authority, and social relations. This study contributes by demonstrating that Qur’anic gender discourse is not constructed solely through textual meanings but through dynamic interactions between revelation, interpretation, and socio-historical realities. The study highlights the importance of contextual and ethically grounded approaches to religious interpretation in promoting women’s dignity, social inclusion, and gender-sensitive practices within Muslim communities.