Women 3

6 min read

This verse recurs in Shahrur’s project because it is one of the verses on which he builds his understanding of polygyny and its limits, and of the relationship between polygyny and justice. It is central for him because it permits a reading of the family in light of equity rather than unrestrained expansion.

Text of the verse as cited

And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphans, then marry such women as are good for you: two, three, or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then one, or those whom your right hands possess. That is more likely to prevent you from being unjust.

Reader’s response

Question

How does Shahrur link polygyny in Women 3 to equity toward orphans?

Shahrur reads the opening of the verse as a condition, not merely an introduction: for him, polygyny pertains to the circumstance of fearing failure to deal equitably with orphans, rather than being a license independent of this context. He bases this on the probabilistic force of in (“if”); if equity toward orphans is achieved, then, according to this reading, he sees no need for polygyny.

Shahrur uses “if you fear that you will not deal equitably with the orphans” to restrict polygyny to the circumstance of fearing a failure of equity toward orphans, and states that equity toward them negates the need for polygyny in his understanding of the verse. The basis of this connection for Shahrur is his interpretation of the particle in as indicating possibility and a conditional circumstance.

Source and location

The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna — p. 116.

Limits of the reading

  • The available evidence establishes Shahrur’s linking of polygyny to the condition of equity toward orphans, but does not explain in detail the standard of justice between wives or how it is to be legally implemented.
  • This evidence is insufficient to establish that Shahrur distinguishes here between the “messengerly context” and “traditional readings,” or to establish a detailed claim concerning financial and ethical regulation.
  • This reading is limited to the meaning explicitly stated by the evidence in the cited passage.

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Brief reading

Shahrur understands the verse as restricting polygyny by the condition of justice and linking it to the care of orphans and to financial and ethical regulation. He also distinguishes in its wording between what pertains to the messengerly context and what pertains to traditional readings that expanded its meaning or removed it from its context.

Axes

  • Legislative
  • Political and social
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Those whom your right hands possess: 2
  • Polygyny: 2
  • Justice: 2
  • Equity: 2
  • Women: 2
  • Marital plurality: 1
  • Polygyny: 1
  • Orphans and justice: 1

Its place in the network of concepts

The verse is connected to polygyny, justice, equity, women, and those whom your right hands possess. It is central because it figures in the construction of his conception of the family and reciprocal rights, and reveals how he links social legislation to fairness and precise language.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Support: 4
  • Distinction: 2
  • Critique of tradition: 1
  • Example: 1

Summary of its presence in the atlas

  • Polygyny is conditional upon justice
  • It is connected to orphans and equity
  • One of the principal passages concerning family and rights

Atlas pages that refer to this verse

These links gather pages that rely on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.

Contexts of use

  • The State and Society, p. 266: He presents al-Tabari’s reading to show that tradition confined “those whom your right hands possess” to female slaves and concubines, as a prelude to departing from it through a contemporary reading.
    • Concept: Those whom your right hands possess
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
    • Textual evidence: “Al-Tabari cites in his exegesis the concept of those whom your right hands possess: … then let him confine himself to one, or to female slaves and concubines.”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: Female slaves and concubines
  • The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna, p. 116: He makes it a supreme messengerly limit for believers, then distinguishes it from the special permission granted to the Prophet in Confederates 50.
    • Concept: Polygyny
    • Function of the verse here: Distinction
    • Textual evidence: “In contrast to what appears in the verses of the message, which set the number of wives at an upper limit of four wives, in His saying: {then marry…} Women 3.”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 276: He employs it to affirm that justice here means equality and the absence of unfairness in treatment.
    • Concept: Justice
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “And His saying {… but if you fear that you will not be just, then one…} (Women 3).”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 276: He cites it to affirm the meaning of equity as beneficence and justice in care.
    • Concept: Equity
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “And His saying, exalted be He, {and if you fear that you will not deal equitably with the orphans…} (Women 3).”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 382: He presents it as an example of a ruling revealed ahead of its time and not yet implemented, as one of the rulings connected to the development of society.
    • Concept: Marital plurality
    • Function of the verse here: Example
    • Textual evidence: “An example is verse 3 of Surat al-Nisa’, which speaks of marital plurality; the civilizational condition of the Arabs has not yet reached the level of this verse.”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 387: He uses it within a comparison of rulings to show that this verse introduced a new social arrangement falling under the rulings of the message.
    • Concept: Polygyny
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “– {And give the orphans their property … and if you fear that you will not deal equitably with the orphans, then marry …} (Women 2, 3).”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 460: He cites it to link the care of orphans with both financial and educational responsibility within the organization of the family and justice.
    • Concept: Orphans and justice
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “As for both financial responsibility and educational responsibility, they occur in His saying, exalted be He…”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 503: He considers it indicative of the specific meaning of women, namely females, because the context is one of marriage and polygyny.
    • Concept: Women
    • Function of the verse here: Distinction
    • Textual evidence: “And His saying {.. then marry such women as are good for you …} (Women 3) refers here to females.”

This page is presented within the general Methodology for Building the Atlas.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas