Browsing by Subject "http://www.yso.fi/onto/yso/p16991"

Details concerning the creation of the first woman are not described in the sacred book of Muslims, the Qurʾān. The best-known passage, usually understood as a description of the creation of the primeval couple, is in the beginning of Sūrat al-Nisāʾ, Chapter of women, which mentions people being created from a single soul, nafs wāḥida, from which God also created its mate, zawj. In early Islamic exegesis, tafsīr, this notion was elaborated and the nafs became understood as Adam (Ādam) and the zawj as Eve (Ḥawwāʾ), the latter being made from the former’s rib – thus, secondarily to him. This interpretation was most likely influenced by the religio-cultural milieu, particularly its Jewish and Christian traditions. The interpretive information further accumulated and transformed in medieval Qurʾānic commentaries, tafāsīr. The present study is designed to analyze the diachronic development of the discourse in medieval Sunnī tafāsīr on the passage “ẖalaqakum min nafsin wāḥidatin wa-ẖalaqa minhā zawjahā”, described above. The time frame of the study is from the late 9th to the 15th century, thus, concentrating on the classical period of the development of Islamic exegesis. Ten well-known exegetes and their tafāsīr were selected for the study. Their exegetic accounts regarding the passage of interest are analyzed with a theoretical framework of genealogical and critical linguistic analysis. The focus is on tracing the accumulation of potential misogynous elements in the overall style and content of exegeses on the creation of the first woman. In addition to obvious manifestations of gender hierarchy, the study aims at addressing some implicatures which are likely to contribute to the patriarchal ethos typical for many interpretative accounts. The passage of interest is understood as the creation of the primeval couple in all commentary accounts examined in the study. The concept of nafs wāḥida, single soul, is interpreted as the first man, Ādam, and the mate created form this soul, zawj, as Ḥawwāʾ. These elaborated exegetic suppositions on human creation are further strengthened throughout the classical period during which a conclusive command to keep women indoors is repeated time and again. Based on the analyses performed in the study, the diachronic development of medieval Sunnī exegesis can be divided into three consecutive discursive stages. The first stage is characterized by normativization of the concept so that nafs wāḥida, single soul, becomes established as Ādam and the mate created form this soul, zawj, as Ḥawwāʾ. The woman is interpreted being made from Ādam’s rib, adding details somewhat equivalent to the Biblical Garden narrative. The second stage in the development of exegeses on the passage consolidates the normative concept described above. The rib becomes crooked – as do the women. The third discursive stage is characterized by expanding the normativized and consolidated concept. This is done by adding misogynous notions to earlier interpretations on the creation and parallelizing the creation of the first woman with that of wickedness and evil.