Feminist Exegesis in Hamka’s Tafsir Al-Azhar

Abstract

This research aims to understand the typology of contemporary interpretation in Indonesia, especially concerning the issue of women based on the interpretation narrative in Hamka's Tafsir Al-Azhar. This interpretation arose in modern thought and was born from Indonesian society that the Dutch were colonizing. Therefore, this interpretation represents an idea with a modern background and colonial issues. One of the interesting issues in Al-Azhar's notion is the interpretation of verses related to women. This study uses a qualitative approach by collecting interpretations related to women in Tafsir Al-Azhar. This research used Hans-George Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutic method. The study results prove that the context of the colonial era made Hamka choose to reinterpret the verses of the Qur'an related to women's creation. The purpose of the interpretation is to harmonize between religious values and social conditions. According to Hamka, he interpreted the female verse that said women created from Adam’s ribs. Also, he explained controversially that the interpretation of women's creation from Adam’s ribs is merely a metaphor. He explained that both men and women could build a fair social system. As well as the issue of women's education rights, Hamka tries to explain that men and women have the opportunity to obtain information and education in an equal position. The latter issue is women's social activities in public areas. In this context, it is not only men who can rule women; on the contrary, women can regulate men's domestic affairs. Therefore, it is the inevitability of the existing potential.