Finding an Egalitarian Voice in the Quran

The patriarchal system was a governing force before Islam. It never gave fundamental rights to women and did not recognize the gender of women as equal to men. The shift in the system happened after the emergence of Islam. The Quran speaks for the rights of women. It is the word of God that recognizes women as humans and not others. However, the words of God have been manipulated by men for their interests. They have misused the interpretations of the Quran by suppressing women’s rights.
By the 20th century, Muslim female scholars start re-interpreting the Quran from a feminist and secular lens. Asma Barlas, Fatima Mernissi, and Amna Wadud are prominent Muslim scholars who questioned the autocratic role of the religion. Asma Barlas in her book, Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Quran posits that understanding of the Quran differs from one person to another due to multiple interpretations.
For instance, people interpret fictional books from their point of view. If we look at multiple interpretations of a certain book, we get a wide range of non-intersecting analyses. Their interpretations reveal much about their milieu, culture, society, etc., and especially reflect their hidden biases and prejudices. So, the question comes in, does their interpretation provide justice to a text and characters? It is always hard to come to a final verdict regarding an interpretation of a text. However, the interpretations by people open an unending debate on the analysis.
Similarly, Muslims from all over the world comprehend the Holy book, Quran, from their understanding. It is an unreliable approach because it may disintegrate the actual meaning of the Book. The interpretations of the Quran have become an intense argument amongst Muslim scholars. Every scholar posits their analysis that proposes different restrictions on women. Mostly the scholar’s beliefs advocate patriarchal rights. They utilize the words of the Quran to impose patriarchal principles on women. Nevertheless, this approach has suppressed Muslim women over the centuries. Yet, Muslim female scholars have protested against these self-imposed principles on Muslim women. They have raised their voices to create a space for women in a rigid patriarchal system.
Asma Barlas rejects the biased hermeneutical approach of the Quran. She questions the interpretations of the male Muslim scholars by quoting their views. Barlas believes those who interpret the Quran as a vessel of a patriarchal system actually want to perceive, apprehend, and believe the words of God in a similar direction. She employs a secular approach in re-interpreting the Quran. She tries to find an equal space for women in the Quran. She has presented many instances from the Quran where women have a privileged position over men. She discerns the absence of gender differences in the Quran as an egalitarian voice of the Holy book. Barlas deconstructs the patriarchal narrative of the Quran that is formed by men and not God. Like Fatima Mernessi, Barlas also points out that Islam is not the religion of division but it provides equal rights to both genders. The Quran speaks for women's rights and protection.
In Barlas’ point of view, a person should accept the anti-patriarchal narrative of the Quran by removing the inculcated prejudiced narrative. The prejudiced narratives only advocate the patriarchal laws that are not the words of God. Therefore, the whole debate amongst Muslim scholars on gender equality in the Quran is a product of deeply ingrained patriarchal laws.