Teori Tafsir Dengan Pendekatan Gender

Abstract

Initially, the discourse on gender equality circulated in Western countries because women there were treated discriminatory. Then in the last few decades (around the 1970s) the discourse on gender equality also hit the Muslim world. Since then, the issue of gender equality has been widely discussed in various Muslim countries, including Indonesia. Although in general there is no difference between Western feminism and Islamic feminism, both of which fight for the achievement of gender equality, it is just that Islamic feminism takes religious texts as a basis. Islamic feminists argue that the main cause of women's oppression is the view of scripturalists (who emphasize the literal sound of verses) towards understanding religious texts in addition to culture, politics and economics. Most classical commentators such as as-Sayuthi (d. 911H), al-Biqi (d. 885H), Ibn Kathir (d. 700H), al-Qurthubi (d. 671H), and at-Tabari (d. 310H) support this interpretation model. According to feminists, the Qur'an was revealed as a response to the existing situation. Therefore, the word "context" is the key to understanding the main meaning of a verse. Here interpretation finds its relevance. Interpretation must be distinguished from religion. Religion is absolute and is in the abstract plane while interpretation is in accordance with the reality of its interpreter (human), it is relative. Modern-contemporary exegetes have emerged with various methods they offer such as Fazlur Rahman (double moverment hermeneutic method), Amina Wadud Muhsin (holistic/hermeneutic method), Riffat Hassan (historical-critical-contextual method, comparative method), Asghar Ali Engineer (socio-theological method), Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (hermeneutic significance method) and others.