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Johanne Louise Christiansen, A Woman’s ‘Self-Wronging’: A Gender Subtheme in the Qur’anic Encounter Between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Literature and Theology, Volume 32, Issue 4, December 2018, Pages 397–422, https://doi.org/10.1093/litthe/fry014
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Abstract
This article examines the encounter between Solomon and the fascinating, but intricate Queen of Sheba in the Qur’an (Q27:15-44). By taking a literary approach to the Qur’anic narrative itself (and not later interpretations as have been the focus of both the Muslim tradition and in the field of Qur’anic studies), I argue that the story not only presents a didactic Qur’anic conversion scene (from paganism to monotheism), but also that the story is permeated by gender related features. I show that two episodes in the story, the Queen’s entry into Solomon’s palace and her declaration of ‘self-wronging’ (ẓulm al-nafs; Q27:44) are essential for the story’s gender subtheme. On the one hand, the Qur’anic story depicts a woman’s submission to a patriarchal order, but, on the other, it also indicates what seems to be a relative gender equality for men and women before God.
