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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.

This master’s thesis explores the development of religious interpretation among Finnish women who have converted to Islam and examines whether this development can be analyzed by dividing it into different stages. Another topic of interest in this work is how the diverse interpretations of Islam that converts embrace reflect the development of Finnish Islam in general. The theoretical premise is Islam researcher Anne Sofie Roald’s theory on the process of religious development that converts go through. The theory categorizes the post-conversion process in four stages: love/zealotry, disappointment, maturity/acceptance, and secularization. The applicability of this theory is examined with the methods of qualitative content analysis by mirroring it to the research data that consists of semi-structured interviews with seven Finnish Muslim convert women. The interviews focus on the women’s ideas on how their lives and interpretations of religion have changed after conversion, how they interpret Islam today and what the meaning of Islam is for their lives from a broader perspective. Other themes discussed in the interviews are gender roles and the impact that being Finnish and being Muslim have on one another. Based on the research data there are considerable differences in the religious interpretations of the converts, as the informants represent different theological and interpretational currents within Islam. Based on the data the interpretations of Islam can be roughly divided to conservative and liberal. Whether or not the informants feel that they are a part of the Finnish Muslim community follows this line of division as well. The interview data paints a rather conservative picture of the Finnish Muslim community, for the more liberal converts feel that it is difficult for them to find a place in it for their interpretations. Along with the issue of belonging to the Finnish Muslim community, gender roles and the position of women emerge as themes that divide the informants. Regardless of the different interpretative emphases, there are many things that unite the women in their experience of Islam, such as the idea of the importance of practicing Islam, a personal relationship with God and having faith in the power of this relationship to carry them through hardships. According to the research data, Islamophobia has increased in Finland in the past years. Despite this, ‘Finnish’ and ‘Muslim’ do not appear as mutually exclusive identities to the informants, but rather the women see parallels between them. A recurring theme in many interviews is the inability of born Muslims to separate between their culture and Islam. The process theory that categorizes the post-conversion religious development of Muslim converts into four different stages turns out to be a useful tool for analysis, but it also becomes subject to criticism. When brought under closer scrutiny the theory appears to suggest that secularization is an inevitable result of religious development. The findings of this research do not support such a conception. An alternative process model based on the research data of this study is proposed in the conclusions, consisting of three post-conversion stages: commitment to Islam, disappointment and the reaction to that disappointment, whether that means a renewed commitment to a certain interpretation of Islam or a widening of the convert’s perspective that leads to exploring different ideas of what it means to be Muslim.