How the Qur’an Speaks About Men and Women

 

     

How the the Book Al-Qur’an Speaks About Men and Women: An Inward Understanding

Introduction

The nook Al-Qur’an speaks about men and women through words that invite us to look beyond their familiar outward meanings and examine the realities they may represent within the human self. When we approach the Qur’an through inward inquiry, we begin to ask whether every reference to men and women necessarily concerns biological males and females, or whether some passages also describe the faculties, attributes, and processes through which understanding develops.

The approach explored in Looking At Oneself begins with the premise that the Qur’an is not merely a book of external instructions. It is also guidance for recognising the workings of the self, examining inherited assumptions, and discovering the truth concealed beneath the identities we habitually accept.

From this perspective, the distinction between the biological body and the inward faculties becomes essential. Men and women have different reproductive structures, but these differences do not establish two fundamentally different kinds of human beings in their capacity to reason, receive knowledge, recognise truth, and develop understanding.

The inquiry, therefore, moves beyond the question of what distinguishes a man from a woman physically. It asks what the Qur’anic language of masculine and feminine attributes reveals about the inner processes through which the human self evolves towards a clearer recognition of Al-Haqq.

1. The Single Origin: Nafs Wahidah

Surah An-Nisa 4:1 begins by directing attention to a single originating self:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ

Ya ayyuha an-nasu ittaqu rabbakumu alladhī khalaqakum min nafsin waḥidah.

“O an-nas / the agitated mind, be mindful of your Rabb, who evolved you from a single self.”

The expression nafsin waaḥidah means a single self. In the inward reading, it provides a starting point for exploring the complementary attributes that emerge from one originating reality.

Rather than immediately treating masculinity and femininity as two separate and fundamentally different natures, this interpretation investigates how complementary qualities may arise within the same self.

A single self can reason and receive, examine and respond, discern and nurture understanding. These are not necessarily the exclusive possessions of two different kinds of human beings. They are complementary capacities that can operate within the same individual.

This reading does not, by itself, settle every question about the biological creation of humanity. The expression nafsin waaḥidah establishes the idea of a single self, while the further identification of that self with inward faculties is an interpretive proposal. The distinction matters because an inward reading should remain open to examination rather than being mistaken for the only possible grammatical meaning.

2. Dhakara and Untha: The Complementary Attributes

Within this interpretive framework, two terms become central: dhakara and untha.  Dhakara (ذَكَر) is explored in relation to divine masculine attributes. These include the capacity for independent reasoning, focus, discernment, assertiveness, and the provision of direction and support.  Untha (أُنثَى) is explored in relation to divine feminine attributes. These include receptivity, acceptance, sensitivity, responsiveness, and the capacity to receive and nurture developing understanding.

These descriptions are functional interpretations within the blog's approach. They are not exhaustive dictionary definitions of the Quranic Arabic words, nor does the language alone establish that every quality associated with masculinity or femininity belongs exclusively to one sex.

The distinction is intended to reveal two complementary movements within the human self.  The first movement examines, distinguishes, and tests. It questions what is presented, investigates its validity, and seeks to establish whether an idea corresponds to reality.  The second movement receives, responds, and nurtures. It allows new information to enter awareness, considers its implications, and gives developing understanding room to mature.

Both movements are necessary. Independent reasoning without receptivity can become rigid and dismissive. Receptivity without discernment can become passive and easily misled.

When these attributes function together, the self becomes better equipped to examine what it receives and to receive what it has not yet understood.

3. The Biological Difference Between Men and Women

An important distinction must be made between biological sex and the inward attributes explored through the Qur’anic language of masculinity and femininity.

Biologically, males and females differ in their reproductive anatomy and reproductive functions. There are also other sex-related anatomical, hormonal, and physiological differences. Furthermore, some people are born with variations in sex characteristics, commonly described as intersex variations or hermaphroditism. These may involve chromosomes, reproductive organs, genital anatomy, or hormonal development. Some variations involve characteristics typically associated with both male and female biology, although the specific features differ from one individual to another.

The existence of these variations reminds us that biological sex characteristics do not always conform neatly to the typical male and female patterns. It would therefore be an oversimplification to describe every human body as fitting an identical biological template.

Nevertheless, the central question explored here concerns the relationship between the physical body and the inner human faculties. Whether a person is male, female, or intersex, biological characteristics do not, in themselves, establish that person's capacity for reasoning, wisdom, discernment, or recognition of Al-Haqq.

Outwardly, human beings exhibit biological variations. Inwardly, they share the human capacity to think, feel, question, receive knowledge, examine experience, and develop understanding. These capacities should not be presumed to belong exclusively to one biological category.

This distinction is essential when exploring the Qur’anic terms Dhakara and Untha as representations of complementary masculine and feminine attributes. Within this inward interpretation, these attributes are not necessarily confined to particular reproductive organs or exclusively assigned to people of one biological sex. Both men and women can exercise independent reasoning, receptivity, sensitivity, discernment, and nurturing understanding.

The purpose is not to deny biological differences or to claim that all bodies are biologically identical. It is to recognise that physical differences do not, by themselves, establish a hierarchy of human worth or spiritual capacity.

The deeper inquiry therefore moves beyond reproductive anatomy towards the inner faculties through which a human being encounters experience, develops understanding, and recognises truth.

4. Rijal and Nisa: The Developed Faculties

The blog further distinguishes dhakara and untha from rijal and nisaʾ. This distinction is important to its interpretation of the processes through which understanding develops.

Rijal (رِجَال) is interpreted in relation to independent rationalisation: the faculty through which ideas are examined, differentiated, tested, and developed into considered understanding.  Nisaʾ (نِسَاء) is interpreted in relation to receptive and responsive urges through which information, impressions, feelings, and emerging ideas are received and nurtured.

In this reading, rijal and nisaʾ are not simply interchangeable with the biological categories of men and women. They may also describe complementary functions operating within the self.

Consider how a person encounters a new idea.  The person first receives information through reading, listening, observation, or experience. The information may generate curiosity, discomfort, attraction, or resistance. These responses provide material for further inquiry.

The person then examines the idea, questions its assumptions, tests its consistency, and compares it with what is already understood. Through this process, the initial impression may be confirmed, corrected, or rejected.

The receptive function allows the information to be received and developed. The rational function examines what has been received and determines whether it can be accepted as sound understanding.  These functions are interdependent. Neither should be treated as sufficient on its own.

The terms rijal and nisaʾ, when read through this framework, invite the reader to investigate how thoughts are conceived, nourished, examined, and brought into alignment with truth.  

5. The Four Complementary Movements Within the Self

The relationship between dhakara, untha, rijal, and nisaʾ can be explored as four interconnected movements.

Dhakara represents the masculine attributes associated with independent direction, focus, and discernment. Untha represents the feminine attributes associated with receptivity, acceptance, and nurturing responsiveness.  From these attributes, the blog develops its inward reading of rijal as independent rational thinking and nisaʾ as receptive, externally stimulated, and nurturing thought processes.

These four movements are not meant to function in isolation. They form an interconnected process through which the self encounters experience and develops understanding.

Receptivity allows something to be encountered. Rational examination tests what has been encountered. Discernment provides direction, while nurturing responsiveness allows an insight to be developed rather than prematurely dismissed.

An imbalance can occur when one movement dominates the others.  When the self accepts every impression without examination, it becomes vulnerable to conditioning, manipulation, and mistaken beliefs. When it rejects everything that challenges existing assumptions, it becomes closed to learning. When it reasons without sensitivity, it may lose sight of the human implications of its conclusions. When it responds emotionally without discernment, it may mistake familiarity or attraction for truth.

The purpose of inward development is not to suppress one faculty in favour of another. It is to allow all the faculties to function appropriately, each contributing to the recognition of what is real.  Wholeness emerges when the self no longer mistakes one partial movement for the entirety of understanding.

6. Surah An-Nisa: Guidance for the Development of Understanding

The name An-Nisa is conventionally translated as “The Women.” Within the blog's inward approach, the term becomes an invitation to examine the receptive and nurturing processes through which ideas and impulses develop.

This reading opens a further question: could some of the guidance in the surah also illuminate how the self receives, evaluates, and manages the thoughts and influences that shape its understanding?  For example, Surah An-Nisa 4:6 speaks about testing or examining orphans until they reach maturity of judgment, and then entrusting their property to them when sound judgment is established.

The verse explicitly concerns orphans, maturity, and the responsible transfer of property. An inward reading explores the principle of allowing something immature to develop until it is capable of responsible judgment.  Applied to the inner life, an impression should not automatically be treated as established understanding simply because it has arisen. An emerging thought requires examination and maturity before it can be entrusted with directing one's life.

The same principle applies to inherited beliefs. A person may receive ideas from family, culture, education, institutions, or religious communities. The fact that an idea has been received from an authority does not, by itself, establish its truth.  The self must learn to distinguish the source of an idea from the validity of the idea.

This does not mean that all external guidance should be rejected. It means that guidance must be approached with discernment rather than blind acceptance. Receptivity permits learning, while rational examination helps prevent conditioning from being mistaken for truth.

The inward interpretation of nisaʾ therefore encourages the reader to examine what is being received, what is being nurtured, and whether the resulting understanding is mature enough to guide action.

Such an application must not erase the explicit subject of any verse. The outward instruction and the proposed inward lesson should be distinguished so that the latter does not simply replace the former.

7. Justice: Giving Each Faculty Its Proper Place

The integration of complementary faculties also raises the question of justice.  In this framework, justice is not achieved by suppressing one attribute or allowing another to dominate. It requires recognising the proper contribution and limitations of each faculty.

Reasoning must be strong enough to challenge false assumptions, but humble enough to acknowledge what it does not know. Receptivity must be open enough to learn, but discerning enough not to accept every impression as truth.

This principle can be understood through the Qur'anic emphasis on standing firmly for justice. Inwardly, the self is called to examine its own biases, attachments, fears, and preferences rather than assuming that its present perspective is already complete.

A person who favours only what confirms existing beliefs is not examining reality impartially. A person who refuses to reconsider a conclusion may be protecting an identity rather than seeking truth.

Justice within the self requires that evidence be considered fairly, that assumptions be questioned, and that understanding remain open to correction.

The same principle has implications for relationships between men and women. Biological differences should not be used as automatic proof that one sex is intellectually, morally, or spiritually superior to the other. Claims about responsibilities and rights must be examined through the actual wording of the relevant Qur'anic passages rather than inferred solely from assumptions about masculine and feminine nature.

The inward approach thus makes justice both an interpersonal responsibility and an inquiry into the integrity of one's own understanding.

8. Beyond Gender Identity: Recognising the Human Capacity for Truth

Human beings often organise their understanding of themselves through identities: man or woman, strong or sensitive, rational or emotional, independent or dependent.  These categories may describe aspects of experience, but difficulties arise when they are treated as fixed boundaries that determine what a person can become.

A man may believe that sensitivity diminishes his masculinity. A woman may be discouraged from exercising independent judgment because it is considered inconsistent with her gender. Such assumptions confuse social expectations with the full range of human capacities.

The inward approach invites a different investigation.  Rather than asking whether a particular capacity belongs exclusively to men or women, we can ask whether that capacity is functioning appropriately in the service of truth.

Is reasoning being used to discover what is true, or to defend what the self already believes? Is receptivity allowing genuine learning, or merely reinforcing familiar patterns? Is assertiveness serving clarity, or expressing a need to dominate? Is acceptance an openness to reality, or a refusal to examine what has been received?

These questions move the inquiry away from gender-based assumptions and towards the quality of awareness, understanding, and action.  The biological body remains what it is. But the inner development of a human being cannot be adequately understood by reducing that person to reproductive anatomy.

The central concern is the evolution of understanding: the movement from unexamined assumptions towards discernment, from conditioning towards clarity, and from attachment to a limited identity towards a more direct recognition of reality.

9. Al-Haqq as the Measure of Understanding

The ultimate purpose of this inward inquiry is not to construct a new hierarchy between masculine and feminine attributes. It is to understand how every faculty can be brought into alignment with Al-Haqq.

The self does not recognise truth merely by identifying with a particular gender, adopting a particular label, or possessing a particular set of physical characteristics. Recognition requires the willingness to examine what appears, question what is assumed, and relinquish conclusions that cannot withstand honest inquiry.

Independent reasoning contributes to this process by examining claims and distinguishing evidence from assumption. Receptivity contributes by allowing reality to be encountered without immediately forcing it into familiar categories. Sensitivity enables the implications of an understanding to be felt, while discernment tests whether that understanding is sound.

When these movements function together, the self becomes less dependent on inherited identities and more capable of recognising what is true.  This does not mean that every inward impression is divine guidance or that subjective certainty is proof of truth. The self can be mistaken about its own motives and interpretations. For that reason, the inward reading must remain open to correction through careful examination of the Qur'anic text, its Arabic wording, and the relationships between its verses.

The aim is not to make the text conform to an established personal theory. It is to allow the text to challenge and refine the theory itself.

Conclusion: One Human Reality, Complementary Attributes

The inward interpretation explored by Looking At Oneself begins with the Qur'anic expression nafsin waaḥidah, a single self, and investigates the complementary attributes associated with dhakara and untha, together with the developed faculties interpreted through rijal and nisaʾ.

Within this framework, biological men and women differ in their reproductive anatomy and other sex-related characteristics, but these differences do not, by themselves, establish a fundamental difference in their capacity for reasoning, receptivity, wisdom, or recognition of truth.

The masculine and feminine attributes explored here are therefore not confined exclusively to male and female bodies. They are complementary functions through which the human self can examine experience, receive knowledge, develop understanding, and respond to reality.

Independent reasoning without receptivity can become rigid. Receptivity without discernment can become vulnerable to error. Both must function together, each contributing to a more complete understanding.

The deeper lesson is to look beyond outward classification and investigate the workings of the self. What is being received? What is being assumed? What is being examined? What is being nurtured? And what, ultimately, is true?

The Qur'an becomes a means of inward inquiry when its guidance leads the reader to question not only the world and other people, but also the assumptions through which the self interprets them.

The journey is not towards becoming more masculine or more feminine according to inherited expectations. It is towards the integration of the human faculties in the recognition of Al-Haqq.

When the self no longer confuses biological distinction with spiritual superiority, or inherited identity with truth, a deeper inquiry becomes possible: the discovery of what is shared beneath the distinctions, and the development of understanding in alignment with reality.