ABSTRACT
The creation of both sexes (and of the pair) as a sign of God’s omnipotence are, in addition to the verses of the female companions in paradise, the earliest Qur’anic motifs that deal with the female sex. The Qur’an also emphasizes the equitable creation of both sexes on the basis of the principle of duality. This principle represents the divine order of creation and, accordingly, the equal creation of both sexes is embedded in a Qur’anic passage that focuses on signs of creation. This chapter demonstrates how this motif of the Qur’an develops through the early-Meccan period, thus providing the seed for a gender-equitable reading of the Qur’an. The author develops a method to make this case, which foregrounds a historical-critical and literary-scientific reading of the Qur’an that employs the diachronic reading technique for the sacred text.
