In Shahrur’s thought, the family is connected to the vocabulary of kinship, to the contracts that regulate marriage, nikah, and divorce, and to the social transition toward freedom and rights.
The Meaning of the Relationship
This relationship appears when the family is read as a domain in which care, contract, and rights intersect. For Shahrur, the distinction among kinship terms illuminates the positions of fatherhood, motherhood, and parenthood.
From the legislative perspective, he reconsiders marriage, nikah, and divorce in terms of covenant and contract. He then links this to a broader social history moving from ownership and coercion toward freedom.
The Two Sides of the Relationship
- The first side: the family
- The relationship: moves from
- The second side: biology to care, contract, and rights
Evidence
- Islam and Faith through The family distinction in the Qur’an redefines fatherhood, motherhood, and adoption
- Evidence: It distinguishes among kinship terms and makes fatherhood and motherhood broader than mere birth.
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence through Marriage and ownership in Sharia are reinterpreted contractually
- Evidence: It reads marriage, nikah, and ownership in the horizon of covenant and contract rather than ownership.
- The State and Society through Slavery and right-hand possession are historical phenomena open to deconstruction
- Evidence: It treats right-hand possession and slavery as historical phenomena capable of transformation toward freedom.
Its Impact on the Knowledge Map
This relationship places the family file at the intersection of vocabulary, legislation, and society. It regulates the terms of fatherhood, motherhood, and parenthood, and links marriage, divorce, and nikah to covenant and rights.
It also connects the family to social history and the transition toward freedom. It therefore helps trace the family as a network of care, contract, and rights, and helps explain its position between juristic rulings and social transformations.