Reformulating Gender Equality as a Response to Contemporary Social Pressures (An Exegetical Study of the Qur’an Surah An-Nisa 4:34)

Abstract

The phenomenon of the rising number of divorces filed by women in Central Kalimantan in  2024, reaching approximately 79% of all divorce cases, reflects a collective social pressure and  gender imbalance within the institution of marriage. This article aimed to reinterpret the  meaning of gender equality in the Qur’anic exegesis of Surah An-Nisa’ verse 34 through the  lens of modern-contemporary interpretation, employing the Maqasih Al-Syari’ah dan Ma‘na  Cum Maghza approaches. This article adopted a qualitative literature review method, drawing  data from modern and contemporary tafsir works, scholarly articles, and empirical data from  the Central Bureau of Statistics. The content analysis revealed that the term qawwamun in the  verse signifies moral trust and social responsibility with a protective nature. This rereading  shifted the patriarchal paradigm toward an egalitarian partnership between men and women  within the family and broader contemporary social systems. The novelty of this study lay in the  integration of tafsir analysis with contemporary social phenomena and the application of the  Ma‘na Cum Maghza approach to reformulate a gender-equality interpretation grounded in  justice, collective well-being, and the maqaṣid-based relevance of Islamic teachings to modern  social issues.