Barbara Stowasser, Women in the Qur’an (Oxford University
Executive summary
Barbara Freyer Stowasser’s Women in the Qur’an, Traditions, and Interpretation is a 206‑page scholarly book first published by Oxford University Press in 1994 that surveys Quranic narratives about women and their exegetical reception from classical Sunni tafsir to modern interpretations [1] [2]. Reviewers and later scholars present it as a corrective to simplistic Western portrayals of Muslim women, situating female Qur’anic figures within theological, historical and socio‑political frameworks [3] [2].
1. What the book is and why it matters
Stowasser’s study is an academic monograph that traces the Qur’anic portrayals of women from the sacred past (Adam through Muhammad’s milieu) and then follows how Sunni exegetical traditions and Hadith literature shaped those portraits and their social applications [1] [2]. Oxford University Press published the work; it is widely cataloged in academic reviews and library records, with an online presence through Oxford Academic and related catalogs [4] [5].
2. Author background and scholarly positioning
Barbara Freyer Stowasser was a professor of Arabic and director of Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, and the book reflects her training in Arabic, Qur’anic literature and Islamic exegesis [6] [2]. The book deliberately selects Sunni theological and tafsir sources—classical and modernist, traditionalist and fundamentalist—to show how mainstream interpretive streams produced enduring images of women in Islamic culture [7] [2].
3. Core arguments and scope
Stowasser argues that Qur’anic narratives about women are “profoundly Islamic” in their themes and context and that understanding them requires examining both the scripture and the subsequent exegetical and Hadith traditions that reframed those figures as cultural symbols with doctrinal and socio‑political uses [1] [2]. She emphasizes that Bible‑related traditions were historically important in early Muslim commentary but that Muslim interpretation ultimately gave these stories an essentially Islamic focus [1].
4. Method and sources — strengths and limitations
The book’s methodology is comparative and historically attentive: it reads the Qur’anic narratives themselves, surveys major Sunni tafsir works and samples Hadith and “tales of the prophets” genres to trace exegetical developments [2]. That scope is a strength for charting mainstream Sunni reception; it is also an explicit limitation because the study concentrates on Sunni sources and therefore does not claim to survey Shi‘i or other interpretive communities [2]. Available sources do not mention whether Stowasser engaged extensively with non‑Sunni corpora.
5. Reception and how scholars use it
Contemporary reviewers recommended the book as a corrective to overgeneralized Western media images of Muslim women and as a useful introduction for readers seeking the complexities of Qur’anic portrayals and their interpretive histories [3]. Academic journals (e.g., Review of Middle East Studies, Bulletin of SOAS) and library catalogs list the book, signaling its circulation and use in Middle East and Islamic studies syllabi [8] [9].
6. Common misreadings to avoid
Readers should not conflate Stowasser’s project with a polemic for modern feminist reinterpretation; instead, she documents how traditional exegetical streams historically constructed female figures and how those constructions have socio‑political ramifications [1] [2]. Some secondary literature positions her work alongside feminist re‑readings (e.g., Amina Wadud is referenced in later comparative discussions), but Stowasser’s method remains historiographical and exegetical rather than exclusively revisionist [10].
7. Practical next steps for a researcher or reader
If you want to consult the primary text, several academic and library platforms host bibliographic entries and excerpts; full copies appear in library catalogs and in digitized archive entries that preserve the copyright notice and bibliographic data [1] [2]. For critical engagement, pair Stowasser’s book with other modern works—both feminist rereadings and conservative tafsir collections—to compare interpretive conclusions; scholarship citing Stowasser (reviews and later analyses) helps map the book’s influence [3] [10].
8. Bottom line for readers and teachers
Women in the Qur’an, Traditions, and Interpretation is a focused, academically reputable survey of how Qur’anic narratives about women were received and used within Sunni interpretive traditions; it remains a useful starting point for anyone wanting historically grounded context rather than polemical summaries [1] [3]. For a fuller picture, readers should supplement Stowasser with works that examine non‑Sunni traditions and contemporary gendered readings—areas not emphasized in the book according to available sources [2].