Deconstructing Qawwām: Derrida's Philosophical Hermeneutics and the Reconfiguration of the Role of Gender in Islamic Thought

Abstract

The issue of gender is a never-ending issue, especially related to the balance of gender roles in the reality of everyday life. The focus of this study is to try to analyze the balance of gender roles in the review of QS. al-Nisā (4): 34 about Qawwām by involving a theory from a famous figure, namely Jacques Derrida's deconstruction theory. The data collection method used is qualitative which tends to use analysis. Then the results of the discussion in this study are; First, that by using Derrida's deconstruction, it is able to provide color in a person's thinking style when understanding a text, the text will not be interpreted with only one meaning or even final but will continue to produce new meanings that continue to be sustainable. Second, deconstruction works not to justify and blame, but to be a mediator by looking at the meaning that comes from reading the conditions of social reality in society. Third, the deconstruction brought by Derrida can reveal that the term Qawwām does not immediately refer to male superiority, but rather as a situational division of roles. Thus, the relationship between husband and wife can be seen as a dynamic partnership that complements each other, not hierarchical.