Is Islam Misogynistic?

Recently, while reading Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, I came across a sentiment I’ve seen expressed by several critics of Islam — that Islam is inherently misogynistic. According to Beauvoir, ‘the Koran treats women with the most absolute contempt’.

Before reading the Quran, I was certain that sentiments like this were true. However, after reading it, I believe this statement is a huge exaggeration. As Asma Barlas writes in Believing Women in Islam, the misogyny attributed to Islam does not usually come from the Quran, which she describes as ‘inherently antipatriarchal’:

as numerous scholars have pointed out, inequality and discrimination derive not from the teachings of the Qurʾān but from the secondary religious texts, the tafsīr (Qurʾānic exegesis) and the ahādith (sing. hadīth) (narratives purportedly detailing the life and praxis of the Prophet Muhammad). As such, by “returning to a fresh and immediate interpretation of the Holy Book, and by taking a new and critical look at the Hadiths — in other words, by engaging in creative ijtihad — modern Islamic authority could very well reform and renew the position of Islam on the issue of the status of women” (Stowasser 1984: 38)

In regard to the Quran itself, Barlas’ argues that ‘insofar as all texts are polysemic’ (that is, ‘open to variant readings’), the Quran cannot be interpreted in just one…