This locus brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
And those who are pregnant—their term is until they deliver their burden…
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the phrase “and those who are pregnant—their term is until they deliver their burden” in his reading?
Shahrur employs the verse among Qur’anic evidences that make “delivery of the pregnancy” the stated limit for the expiry of a pregnant woman’s term in the context of divorce. Elsewhere, he also cites it as evidence for the form “ulāt,” as a form specific to a group of females, in contrast to his discussion of “ulū/ulī” for a male group.
In the verse itself, the term of pregnant women is made “until they deliver their burden”; that is, the limit at which the stated period ends is delivery of the pregnancy. Shahrur brings together Divorce 4 with other verses containing the expression “delivery of the pregnancy,” including Divorce 6, Pilgrimage 2, and the Family of Imran 36, in his presentation of terms denoting delivery.
Evidence and Location
Islam and Faith — p. 181.
Limits of the Reading
- The evidence from “Islam and Faith” cites the verse alongside other verses, but the excerpt does not contain a detailed rationale or an extended theoretical conclusion.
- The claim that the verse alone settles all jurisprudential rulings concerning pregnancy or the waiting period goes beyond what the attached evidence establishes.
- No additional relationship between the context of the waiting period and the context of distinguishing the forms “ulāt” and “ulū” should be inferred merely from the verse’s occurrence in the two sources.
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Brief Reading
He cites it to argue that the end of pregnancy is delivery, and that the wording of expressions distinguishes between the feminine and masculine in Qur’anic usage.
Axes
- Legislative
- Linguistic and semantic
Related Concepts
- Delivery: 2
- Distinction between plural forms: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to determining the ruling through language rather than custom.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Example: 1
- Distinction: 1
Instances of Use
- Islam and Faith, p. 181: He cites it to establish that the Qur’an makes delivery, rather than pregnancy itself, the end of pregnancy.
- Concept: Delivery
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual evidence: “{… And those who are pregnant—their term is until they deliver their burden…} (Divorce 4).”
- The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna, p. 148: He cites it to argue that the Qur’an uses a form specific to females (“ulāt”), in contrast to “ulū/ulī” for males, as a prelude to denying that “those vested with authority” means rulers.
- Concept: Distinction between plural forms
- Function of the verse here: Distinction
- Textual evidence: “As in His, exalted be He, saying: {… And those who are pregnant—their term is until they deliver their burden…} Divorce 4”
Related Books
- Islam and Faith
- The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.