Qur’anic Gender Writing: an Effort to Renconcile Gender Tensions in the Discourse of Qur’anic Interpretation in Indonesia

Abstract

This study departs from the problem of gender war in the discourse of Qur'anic interpretation. The stereotype that interpretations by male mufasir are patriarchal and must be counterbalanced by feminine writing creates discursive polarization. Qur'anic Gender Writing offers a reconciliatory approach that collaboratively negotiates the meaning of gender justice. The urgency of this study lies in presenting an interpretive methodology to reduce gender hermeneutic conflicts. This research addresses two questions: How does the hermeneutic strategy of Qur'anic Gender Writing construct its interpretive principles to address potential gender biases in Qur'anic interpretation, and what conflict management style does Qur'anic Gender Writing employ in reconciling hermeneutic tensions, as analyzed through the Thomas-Kilmann framework? This qualitative study applies thematic content analysis to the primary corpus of Febriani's book (2025), operationalizing four Gadamerian concepts to explore the construction of her hermeneutic strategy and two Thomas-Kilmann dimensions to identify the conflict management style in addressing interpretive tensions, in an integrated framework. The findings at the Wirkungsgeschichte stage show that Nur Arfiyah's writings attribute her gender consciousness to an egalitarian environment and a feminist-transformationist academic journey, rather than to experiences of oppression. At the Vorverständnis stage, the Qur'anic Gender Writing strategy does not reject classical interpretation a priori, but opens space for reconsideration when patriarchal bias is found in interpretation. In the fusion of horizons phase, there is a dialogue between the horizon of the Qur'anic text and the ethical-contextual awareness of Qur'anic Gender Writing, positioning the Qur'an as a progressive revelation that engages with gender justice. In the conflict management approach, Qur'anic Gender Writing shows a tendency toward collaborative styles as a strategy of reconciliation and compromise to reduce hermeneutic conflicts. The results show that Qur'anic Gender Writing serves as a model of epistemic conflict management in interpretive discourse. This research integrates Gadamer's hermeneutics with Thomas-Kilmann conflict management theory and introduces Qur'anic Gender Writing as a conciliatory methodology toward gender justice in Qur'anic interpretation in Indonesia.