Both feminist theologians and religious scholars agree, however, that Islam represented an advance for women in terms of both rights and obligations. At the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, women had essentially no rights in society, or obligations that would put them on an equal basis with the men. While some cultures have denied women their rights under the Qur'an in practice, those still exist in the scriptures themselves.
Feminist scholars contend that Muhammad and the Qur'an are relatively egalitarian in their approach to the rights and obligations of men and women, although not totally so. The problem, they assert, is with the more conservative cultures and scholars that have distorted that original Islam. This has been the approach of feminist scholars in many of the major world religions, including Christianity.
Riffat Hassan is one of the major scholars working with the Qur'an. For her, the Qur'an is the liberator of women, if properly understood. She asserted that the Qur'an is not biased against women and does not discriminate against them, but that the interpretation of the Qur'an by men has led to a distortion of the truth which has created a condition of spiritual, as well as physical, bondage for most women in the Islamic world.
Development and Organization of the Qur'an
The Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad over the course of more than two decades and in two different cities, both Makka and Madina (again, there are variant spellings). Muhammad initially was uncertain about his visitations, but gradually came to accept them and acknowledge the command to recite (literally, make qur'an). Over several years, he gathered a group of followers in Makka, with some splitting off to other locations. With a major mystical experience in 621 C.E. and a move to Yithrab in 622 C.E., Muhammad's prophethood and the new revelation began to solidify (Renard, 1992).
The organization of the Qur'an does not rep...