Different Interpretations
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Some people may argue that there are interpretations of the Quran and Sunna that
could be provided to support and opposite view about women’s rights. It is the
responsibility of jurists to research through the different views and to find out how
the difference evolved and how it can be resolved.
An interpretation of a Qur’anic text requires knowledge of the Quran, Sunna,
linguistics and history, especially the Muslim cultural and social history. The
words in any text do not exist in a vacuum, and the interpreters and jurist are
human beings who are an outcome or their social and cultural circumstances, even
if they are dealing with the permanent message of God.
Diverse interpretations of the same text should be considered in the light of other
verses related to the same or similar topic in the Quran, the sayings and practices
of the Prophet and his Companions, and the influence of later cultural and social
developments on the authors.
Any author might have a “personal view,” that was developed by personal or social
circumstances, but such a view has to be figured out, and its reasons have to be
analyzed and assessed, to evaluate the differences and find out the outweighing
interpretation. Tolerating different views does not mean necessarily that they are
equally valid or convincing. It is the responsibility of and the challenge for the
human intellect, in any time and place, to figure out the Qur’anic idea, according to
the intellectual merits and capability on one side, and to the existing cultural and
social circumstances on the other, since an interpretation of a Qur’anic text is not
merely a linguistic or formal exercise. The Quran is a living guidance that
continuously reveals new angles of interpretation according to the development of
individual intelligence and social experience. It cannot be ambiguous or
contradictory if it ideas interact with the divine gift of the human mind:
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“…and We have bestowed from on high upon you, gradually, this divine writ, to
make everything clear (Tibyanan likul shay’), and to provide guidance and grace
and a glad tiding unto all who have submitted themselves to God.” (16:89),
“Will they not, then, try to understand this Quran? Had it been issued from any
but God they would surely have found in it many an inner contradiction!”
(4:82)
The Sunna of the Prophet is the earliest conceptual and practical interpretation of
the divine message:
“and upon you have We bestowed from on high this reminder, so that you might
make clear unto people all that has ever been thus bestowed upon them, and that
they might take thought.” (16:44)
“And upon you have We bestowed from on high this divine writ for no other
reason than that you might make clear unto them all (questions) on which they
have come to hold divergent views, and (thus offer) guidance and grace unto
people who believe.” (16:64)
Prominent commentators on the Quran and the Sunna, and prominent theologians
and jurists as well might have different interpretations, but each presented his
argument for his view against others.
Ibn Hazm (d. 1064) might provide a strong argument for a view that appeared
different from many dominating others – Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328) might abandon a
dominant opinion in his school – the Hanabali – and adopt one of another school for
stronger evidence. This is the responsibility of the interpreter of the divine
message: who should not accept the different “possible” interpretations as equal,
but has to use the various linguistic, logical and historical methods to figure out
what represents the proper meaning of the valid text, and to provide the evidence
for such a result, even if other views have been existing for a long time or even
dominating. The ‘existence’ of a view, and even the ‘size’ of its followers, cannot
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figure out the final word or the ultimate truth, but it is the ‘evidence’ that is the
decisive factor in reaching the right interpretation, although other different views
should be tolerated and discussed “in the most convincing and kindly manner”
(16:125)
