Abstract
Both Hebrew and Arabic, the sacred languages of Judaism and Islam respectively, have specific grammatical markers for masculine and feminine. The masculine, however, is used as well in a generic sense as inclusive of both masculine and feminine. In their interpretation of their sacred texts, medieval Jewish and Muslim grammarians and exegetes, felt the need to account for the generic use of the masculine and generally justified it as a reflection of the superiority of men over women. Within the literalist reading of the sacred text that characterizes Jewish Karaite scholars, however, a more complex interpretation was advanced. In an original approach to this issue that will be examined in this study, Abu l-Faraj Harun ibn al-Faraj, active in Jerusalem in the 11th century C.E., contemplated the exemption of women from the fulfillment of certain obligations when the divine injunction was delivered with masculine grammatical markers unless contextual elements indicated a generic meaning. The views of Abu l-Faraj Harun are analysed within the general framework of philosophical and grammatical theories of gender among Muslim and Jewish contemporary scholars.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Religious Commonalities and Differences
KEYWORDS
Judaism, Islam, Gender, Language, Karaism
