This entry belongs to the Shahrur lexicon. Guardianship in Shahrur is a function and responsibility tied to competence, spending, and management, and it is not confined to males or to the husband-wife relationship alone.
Its meaning in Shahrur
Guardianship in his view is a position of leadership and care that may belong to either a man or a woman according to material and moral capability. He therefore reads verse 34 of Surat al-Nisa’ within a network of family, work, spending, and competence.
Its function in the reading
- It shifts family authority from sex to competence and responsibility.
- It interprets nushuz as a disruption in the function of guardianship, not as narrow sexual disobedience.
- It connects the striking in the verse of al-Nisa’ to a measure within guardianship, not to physical harm.
- It opens guardianship to reconciliation, arbitration, and separation when the relationship breaks down.
Foundational links
- Guardianship includes both man and woman
- Striking in the verse of al-Nisa’ is a withdrawal of guardianship
- Guardianship according to competence
- The three steps are not physical striking
- al-Nisa’ 34
Limits of the reading
This entry explains Shahrur’s reading and does not settle the juristic disagreement over the verse. Its importance in the atlas is that it shows how guardianship in his view changes from a privilege into a function subject to accountability.
From a human rights perspective, guardianship connects to the question of authority and guardianship within the family: is it a privilege over the person, or a responsibility open to review? See Women and the family within human rights.