Empowering Women’s Rights and Social Justice: Qur’anic Solutions from Surah An-Nisa

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16846630

Abstract

Women right in modern days are still one of the remains over the world, associate with political, economy, cultural, and religion. Although much has been achieved including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979) when it comes to concrete measures, there are still persistent structural inequalities that do not allow women to participate freely and fully in all aspects of public and private life. In Muslim communities, discussions around gender justice tend to grapple with the points of tension and harmonization between the Quran, traditional Islamic law and present-day human rights norms. The Medina chapter Sūrat al-Nisāʾ (Chapter 4 of the Qur’ān) is particularly detailed in its ethical and legal commentary regarding issues of inheritance, marriage, divorce, guardianship, and protection from injustice, and often emphasizing the rights of women. In this article, matching the core principles of this surah with the present global condition in relation to underrepresentation and insufficient leadership during times of crisis, lack of basic human needs causing gendered poverty, workplace discrimination, domestic violence, reproductive equity and access to education, we perform a thematic analysis of Sūrat al-Nisāʾ in classical and contemporary tafsīr traditions. Integrating Qurʾānic commentary, gender justice theory and policy examples from Muslim majority countries, the article presents culturally-relevant, faith-aligned approaches to forward-looking women’s rights advocacy. Such findings underline how Qurʾānic focus on justice (عدل), equity (قسط), and compassion in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ provides a paradigm for gender-inclusive legal and social reform today.

Keywords: Women’s Rights; Gender Justice; Sūrat Al-Nisāʾ; Qur’ānic Exegesis; Islamic Law; Leadership; Equality