About the Podcast:
- Why do certain Qur’anic verses appear to favor men over women?
- Is the Qur’an inherently anti-patriarchal or does it reflect patriarchal values?
- Are men truly in charge of the family according to the Qur’an?
In this episode, we explore one of the most contentious questions in Islamic studies: can a supremely just God, as described in the Qur’an, be biased towards men? Drawing from her groundbreaking work Believing Women in Islam, Dr Asma Barlas guides us through an anti-patriarchal reading of the Qur’an, challenging centuries of male-dominated exegesis. We unpack controversial verses on qiwamah (male guardianship) and verse 4:34—the so-called “wife beating” verse—examining whether these passages truly embed patriarchy or whether they’ve been misread through the lens of interpreters’ patriarchal contexts.
The conversation traverses scholarly debates between traditionalist and secular-feminist approaches, the historical legacy of patriarchy in Islamic interpretation, and the practical challenges of practising critical scholarship within Muslim communities. The discussion also reflects on the personal and communal challenges of balancing faith with reason.
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Learn More About Our Guest:
Dr Asma Barlas is Professor Emerita of Politics at Ithaca College and a distinguished scholar of Islamic intellectual history, Qur’anic hermeneutics, and gender politics. She holds a PhD in International Studies and has taught courses on comparative and Islamic political thought, postcolonial studies, and women and Islam. Her landmark work, Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur’an (2002), argues that the Qur’an is fundamentally anti-patriarchal and that patriarchal readings reflect the biases of male-dominated interpretive traditions. Her scholarship continues to shape contemporary conversations about gender, faith, and justice in Islam.
Read More of Her Insights:
Barlas, A. (2002) ‘Believing Women’ in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur’an. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Barlas, A. (2019) Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur’an (Revised Edition). London: Saqi Books.
Barlas, A. (2006) ‘Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur’an: Beyond the Feminism versus Fundamentalism Dichotomy’ in Haddad, Y.Y. and Esposito, J.L. (eds.) Daughters of Abraham: Feminist Thought in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, pp. 161-183. Barlas, A. (2004) ‘Amina Wadud’s Hermeneutics of the Qur’an: Women Rereading Sacred Texts’ in Meena, S. (ed.) Modern Muslim Intellectuals and the Qur’an. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 97-123.
