Woman Between Islam and Western Society
5. Position of Woman in the Islamic Shari‘ah
~ 265 ~
From a perusal of these verses, one can see that the
same word has been used for the spouses of
ordinary human beings as was used for Adam’s
spouse in the verse quoted above. Just as Eve was
created from Adam’s
nafs,
so other women have
also been created from the same
nafs
— or kind —
as their male counterparts.
Clearly there is no question, in these other verses,
of inferring that every female spouse has been
created from the body of the male. There is no
alternative but to take the word
nafs,
occurring in
these verses, as meaning ‘kind.’ God has created
for you spouses of your own kind, the Qur’an is
telling us, in order that they may provide you
with true companionship in your journey
through life.
To summarize, women and men are from the
same species. Biologically speaking, women
have not been extracted from the bodies of their
male counterparts. God fashioned them
according to His Will, just as He fashioned men
in accordance with His Almighty Will and
Power.
