This axis brings together 4 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the verse as cited
And your mothers who nursed you…
Reader’s answer
Question
Where does Shahrur employ Al-Nisa’ 23, what is the significance of the distinction he draws from it, and what function does the verse serve in his argument?
Shahrur employs the phrase “the mothers who nursed you” from Al-Nisa’ 23 to include the nursing mother within the circle of unmarriageable kin. In this context, he distinguishes between the establishment of unmarriageability for the nursing mother and her exclusion from inheritance and filial piety. The verse serves his argument by analogy between the status of the foster mother and that of the nursing mother, provided that the child knows her and her family ties when he grows up.
Shahrur holds that the nursing mother is regarded as a mother with respect to unmarriageable kin on the basis of Al-Nisa’ 23, but separates this unmarriageability from inheritance and filial piety. He then makes the ruling concerning the foster mother analogous to that concerning the nursing mother in this context, linking it to the child’s knowledge of her and of her children and siblings after reaching awareness.
Citation and location
Islam and Faith — p. 208.
Limits of the reading
- The citation establishes, for Shahrur, the distinction between unmarriageability on the one hand and inheritance and filial piety on the other, but the excerpt does not explain the criterion or evidence for this separation.
- The citation alone does not establish that the verse is used to define all limits of marital prohibition or to construct the entire circle of unmarriageable kin.
- The excerpt does not address synonymy, or its absence, among the terms of the verse and others.
Continue from here
Brief reading
Shahrur takes the verse as a basis for constructing the circle of unmarriageable kin and defining the limits of prohibition in marriage and family relations.
Axes
- Legislative
- Political and social
- Human and ethical
Related concepts
- Unmarriageable kin: 2
- Prohibition: 2
- Circle of unmarriageable kin: 2
- Marriage prohibitions: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It is connected to the expansion of the circle of unmarriageable kin as an organized social trajectory.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Foundational: 3
- Example: 1
Instances of use
- Islam and Faith, p. 207: He makes it the basis for regarding the nursing mother as a mother included within the circle of unmarriageable kin, while its implications for filial piety and inheritance remain contingent upon the condition of awareness and separation.
- Concept: Unmarriageable kin
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual citation: “{… AND YOUR MOTHERS WHO NURSED YOU…} (Al-Nisa’ 23)”
- Islam and Faith, p. 208: He uses it to establish that the prohibition here is absolute and encompasses insemination alongside marriage, not marriage alone.
- Concept: Prohibition
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual citation: “{FORBIDDEN TO YOU ARE YOUR MOTHERS… the verse} (Al-Nisa’ 23)”
- State and Society, pp. 47–50: He takes it as a basis for his theory of the evolution of the family and the expansion of the circle of unmarriageable kin as a movement toward civilization, rather than the reverse.
- Concept: Circle of unmarriageable kin
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual citation: “- {FORBIDDEN TO YOU ARE YOUR MOTHERS, YOUR DAUGHTERS, YOUR SISTERS … AND THAT YOU COMBINE TWO SISTERS IN MARRIAGE, EXCEPT WHAT HAS ALREADY PASSED. GOD IS FORGIVING, MERCIFUL} (Al-Nisa’ 23).”
- Corresponding traditional reading: It is known in the tradition as a fixed, final list of prohibitions, whereas he regards it as a minimum limit that may be expanded through restriction, not through prohibition.
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 153: He considers it one among the set of prohibited matters that he sees as part of the overall structure of prohibitions in the Revelation.
- Concept: Marriage prohibitions
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual citation: “As for the tenth, it is marriage prohibitions in His saying—exalted is He—: {FORBIDDEN TO YOU ARE YOUR MOTHERS …}”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.