<![CDATA[This study highlights the semantic evolution of three keywords in Qur’an 4:34 (al-Rijāl, al-Nisā, and Qawwām) and their implications for the role of stay-at-home dads. This study stems from an online discussion on the X platform (formerly Twitter) regarding the reality of stay-at-home dads and the limited literature discussing the interpretation of Qur’an 4:34 on the shift in roles in the household, particularly in the stay-at-home dad context. This study aims to analyze the evolution of the meanings of three keywords in Qur’an 4:34, identify the factors of acceptance and resistance to stay-at-home dad, and examine the socio-theological implications for the shift in gender roles in domestic relationships. Using Liz Przybylski’s hybrid-ethnography scheme as a data collection method, this study integrates interviews with five couples, online media discourse, and analysis of three cross-era interpretations: al-Ṭabarī, Amina Wadud, and Nasaruddin Umar. The analysis of this study integrates two approaches, Stephen Ullmann’s change of meaning and Judith Butler’s gender performativity. The result of this study found a consistent trajectory from biological-hierarchical to functional-metaphorical, supported by the performativity of stay-at-home dad as a means of legitimisation. The implications of this study confirm that contemporary interpretations provide a more inclusive theological basis for the existence of stay-at-home dad, challenging the hegemony of patriarchal interpretations and opening space for linguistic and social ijtihād to achieve egalitarian, contextual, and adaptive gender principles in Muslim family life and the evolving social issues in contemporary society. The dialogue among these three keywords is a form of ongoing discourse on equality and justice within the framework of Islam.]]>
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