Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
3. Womanhood in Islam
~ 37 ~
And the rib, which the Lord God had taken
from man, made he a woman, and brought
her unto the man. And Adam said, This is
now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh:
she shall be called Woman, because she was
taken out of man.
33
32.
Qur’an, 4:1.
33.
Bible, Genesis, 2:21-23.
From this biblical tradition comes the theory that
Eve was created from Adam’s rib. This story has
been given credence by some commentators of the
Qur’an, who have used it to explain Eve’s creation
“from the same soul as Adam.” But this notion does
not stand up in the face of established fact, and it
has been proven that, over the centuries, the Bible
has been subjected to alterations and additions. Its
present form is no longer as the prophets originally
taught it. Along with prophetic inspiration, it has
received a fair injection of human interpolation. For
this reason, one cannot rely on explanations given
in the Bible, nor is it proper to explain verses of the
Qur’an in the light of biblical statements.
