Eve between Revelation and Tradition: The Question of Origins in Muslim Classical Interpretations and Feminist Counter-Narratives

Abstract

This article critically investigates the Islamic narrative of Eve’s creation through an interdisciplinary lens combining Qur’anic hermeneutics, Ḥadīth analysis, and feminist theological critique. Central to this study is the contested interpretation of the Qur’anic expression "min nafsin wāḥidah" ("from a single soul") and its exegetical association with the creation of Eve from Ādam, which many commentators equate with the biblical rib narrative. Drawing on classical interpretations by scholars such as al-Ṭabarī, Mujāhid, and Ibn ʿAbbās, alongside a textual study of six Ḥadīths reported by Abū Hurayrah in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, the study highlights how pre-Islamic, Judeo-Christian, and Hellenistic paradigms may have influenced Islamic exegetical traditions. Feminist scholars, particularly Riffat Hassan, are engaged to explore how patriarchal readings have shaped the ontology of womanhood in Islamic thought, often privileging Ḥadīth-based assertions over Qur’anic egalitarianism. The study questions the reliability of these narrations on both isnād and matn grounds, and argues that the theological construction of woman as “crooked” or secondary contradicts the Qur’anic vision of gendered equality. Ultimately, the article advocates a return to the Qur’an’s primary message, free from later interpretive accretions, to reconstruct a more just and faithful theology of gender in Islam.