Page 347 - Bigotry: The Dark Danger

Adnan Oktar
(Harun Yahya)

The Idea of Male Superiority

The word "baadahum" in the verse "God has made the one excel

the other," verse 34 of Surat an-Nisa', clearly addresses a mixed society
made up of men and women. Therefore, the true meaning here is
"God has made some men and some women excel other men and
other women." This means that God has given each one of them dif-
ferent abilities and characteristics.

The passage interpreted into English as, "Men have charge of
women because God has made the one excel the other and because

they spend their wealth on them." refers, not to male superiority to
women, but solely to physical differences. The words "... because
they spend their wealth on them" remind us of men's responsibility
to take care of women in the material sense, as we have already seen
in some detail. The Arabic of the passage "Men have charge of
women" is "Arrijalu qawwamoona aala annisa-i."

The real meaning of this Arabic statement is "Men watch over

women," or "Men have a responsibility to take care of matters of
livelihood for women."

The word "qawwam" in the verse is translated by many com-
mentators to mean "overlord or master." However, in all the other
verses in which the word appears, it has just one meaning, "to watch
over and protect." As readers will remember, we have already seen
how one needs to understand the use and meaning of words in Arabic,

a very rich language, in verses by looking at how they are employed
in other verses. That also applies to the word "qawwam."

The word "qawwam" is derived from the root "qwm." Looking
at all the verses in which forms of this root appear, you will not find
one in which it is used to mean "overlord or master." Indeed, the

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