01/07/2026 15:00 - 16:00

HALL: Parenzo - A12

Contact: Baumi D.

Chair: Shehata M.

This panel brings together two closely connected papers that explore how gender hierarchy took shape within Islamic thought through classical exegetical interpretations of the nafs (soul/self) in Qur'anic accounts of human creation. Working at the intersection of Qur?anic anthropology, exegesis and theology, the panel's papers trace how interpretative claims about the nature of the human self became entangled with assumptions about gender difference, moral capacity, and agency, and how these assumptions came to be justified as ontological rather than historically-situated readings.


Rather than treating gender hierarchy as merely a product of social custom or legal doctrine, the panel approaches it as a deeper interpretive and ontological issue. By engaging closely with Qur?anic language - particularly the concept of nafs wa?ida (single soul) in verses 4:1, 7:189, and 39:6 - and with key exegetical and philosophical figures such as al-Tabari and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, the papers expose the hermeneutical moves through which hierarchical gendered anthropologies were produced, normalized and eventually popularized.


Concomitantly, the panel highlights resources within the Islamic classical tradition that destabilize these hierarchies, such as Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's unique exegesis of the above verses, alongside his psychology, elaborated upon in his theological and philosophical works. Together, the papers demonstrate that dominant interpretations of women's secondary or deficient status are not demanded by the Qur?anic text, but rather reflect the broader social assumptions of the exegetes, their inherited biblical narratives and Aristotelian philosophy. By foregrounding the nafs as an ontological site of ethical telos, the panel contributes to contemporary debates on gender in Islam from within its classical intellectual history.