KESETARAAN GENDER DALAM TAFSIR AL-QUR’AN BERBAHASA SUNDA: STUDI ATAS PEMIKIRAN MOH. E. HASIM DALAM TAFSIR AYAT SUCI LENYEPANEUN

The interpretation of the Qur’an on verses about women often gives birth to gender-based discriminatory interpretations. Moh. E. Hasim, a Sundanese commentator with a textualist interpretation approach, given the predominating patriarchal system in his lifetime which has subjugated women over the power of men, shares a perspective that encourages gender equality in his interpretation. This study aims to reveal the interpretation of Moh. E. Hasim in the tafsir work of Ayat Suci Lenyepanenun regarding the issue of gender equality. This study reveals three main problems related to the production of interpretation, the discourse on gender equality built by Moh. E. Hasim, and the experience of patriarchal social reality surrounding his life that has resulted in an gender-equal interpretation. The study aims to answer these three questions based on the description of qualitative data derived from Ayat Suci Lenyepanenun by Moh. E. Hasim as the primary data source. In particular his interpretations related to gender equality includes the following aspects: (a) the creation of women; (b) leadership in the household; (c) nusyu>z and domestic violence; (d) women’s testimonies; (e) the right to inherit property; (f) polygyny, and (g) sexual violence. The researcher uses Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutic theory, discourse analytical theory, and gender equality in analyzing the interpretation of Moh. E. Hasim. The research findings show that first, Hasim uses Sundanese as an intermediary tool to communicate his thoughts. The dominant patriarchal system that colors his life time serves as the background for the production of his tafsir work Ayat Suci Lenyepanenun. Second, his tafsir work is inclined with the textualist approach, which leads to predisposition of gender bias. Hasim supported his textual interpretation with some contextual aspects of the Quranic verses and the ubiquituous social reality which results in an interpretation that encourages gender equality. Third, Hasim’s interpretation is xvi influenced by effective history which creates a pre-understanding that affects his interpretation on the text. Furthermore, there is a fusion of horizon between the Qur’anic text with the ideal vision of honoring women’s dignity and Hasim’s horizon which compromises between the patriarchal sociological reality and the current scientific and technological development that places men and women in equal position. The fusion between the text of the Qur’an and Hasim’s horizons produces a more meaningful interpretation that requires a contextual understanding of a text, instead of having a literal understanding. The quest for contextual understanding leads to a more precious insight on the present situation as the background for the text production. Theoretically, the findings of this study strengthen the view that interpretive activity is the result of one’s reception of texts that is correlated with existing interpretations. Contextualization is done by bringing together various horizons. The interpreter’s horizon with his socio-cultural space negotiates with the interpreted text’s horizon. The interpreter also considers the horizon of the readers in his commentary while conveying his ideas