Stowasser Discussion Questions
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Stowasser: “The Wife of the Prophet Adam”
This article provides a compendium of a variety of different Muslim
interpretations of the Adam/Eve story. We include this article to
suggest some of the very different ways the original Qur’anic accounts
have been interpreted. As you read the article, be aware that it is
talking about different versions of the story with different
implications for gendered identities and roles. First, there are
the accounts of Adam and his wife in the Qur'an itself. Then, there are
the interpretations of the Adam and Eve story, as depicted in
traditional Muslim scholarly/religious commentaries, which diverge
quite dramatically sometimes from the original Qur’anic versions and
show the influence of the Biblical creation story.
Sura 20,
verses 117-121, as translated by Maulvi Muhammad Ali
Image courtesy of the Online Library of
Liberty
Some questions for discussion:
1) In five Qur’anic accounts of the creation of Adam and Eve, women
appear in three. Summarize the sequence of events leading to the
human “fall” in these accounts.
2) In these accounts, who specifically disobeys God and what are the
consequences of it?
3) If according to one account, it was Adam who specifically disobeyed
his Lord, how does the exegete al-Tabari, and after him others, come to
blame Adam’s wife for this incident?
4) “God then put His curse on the woman and the snake;” since the
Qur’an does not mention this, where are the exegetes getting this
notion from?
5) How did the Mu`tazili scholars engage these verses?
6) What do these interpretive strands convey to us about progressively
developing pre-modern theological conceptions of women’s nature and
status?
7) Why do you think certain Muslim exegetes actually showed a
preference for certain details contained in the biblical creation
account, even though the Qur’anic versions do not refer to them?
For example, why did they import into their exegesis the Genesis
account of woman being created from Adam’s rib?
8) How did Muhammad ‘Abduh’s exegesis attempt to challenge widely
accepted interpretations of the Adam and Eve story? Was he
successful?
9) What is the significance of the statement: “They used the story of
Hawwa in new ways to reflect a variety of ideological, in some cases,
also personal perspective” (p. 35).
Overall Questions to ponder:
A. How are the Qur'anic versions of the creation of humans, in the
excepts we have, different from the Biblical version? How are they
similar? How do the differences in these texts change Genesis's story
and it's significance?
B. How much do you think the Biblical and Qur'anic stories of Adam and
Eve have affected gender relations in individuals, cultures, and
societies that take scripture seriously? How much do you think that the
Biblical story of Adam and Eve still affects gender relations in the
United States today?
