This lexical entry gathers the technical meaning of this term in Shahrur across his various books, and links its different uses.
This entry belongs to the Shahrur glossary. For reading by theme, one may refer to Shahrur’s major themes and shared concepts.
Meaning in Shahrur
The mother is the one who performs the function of care, upbringing, and the formation of consciousness, and her significance is not confined to the biological bond of childbirth. Motherhood here is a practical and human quality acquired through the act of nurturing, preserving, and attending, not merely through lineage.
Distinctions
- It is not equated with the biological mother if the role of upbringing and care is absent
- It differs from the father in terms of family function, even if both share the broader family framework.
Occurrences in his books
- Islam and Faith: mother here goes beyond biological childbirth to include whoever educates, cares for, and forms consciousness. The aim of this extension is to make the mother-child relationship a human and educational function, not merely a bond of birth
What is adjacent to it and different from it
- Reconstructing Qur’anic concepts in Shahrur’s work makes them epistemic and human
- Motherhood goes beyond biological childbirth
- The family distinction in the Qur’an redefines fatherhood, motherhood, and adoption
- The Qur’an distinguishes between family terms
- Shahrur - the father