What does the term mean here?
In the Shahrurian lexicon, “nikah” is used to denote sexual intercourse between a male and a female. The definition does not restrict this intercourse to the existence of a contract, as it states that it may occur with or without a contract.
What is attributed to Shahrur
His definition is given verbatim: “Nikah: sexual intercourse between a male and a female, whether with a contract or without a contract.”
The atlas’s explanation
The qualification “whether with a contract or without a contract” indicates that the contract is not a necessary element in the definition of nikah given by the text; rather, the definition centers on sexual intercourse itself.
Qualified conclusion
Based on this passage alone, it is not valid to reduce the meaning of nikah to the contract, because the text mentions both contractual and non-contractual forms as instances in which intercourse occurs.
Open question and limits of the evidence
The available evidence in this package does not establish a terminological distinction between nikah and marriage, nor does it establish the meaning of “insemination” or its relation to nikah. Nor is it sufficient to establish specific conclusions regarding kinship, prohibited degrees of marriage, fatherhood, and childbirth. The thematic path may be pursued in family, contracting, and kinship, and through the links father and mother, while keeping these questions in need of their own specific evidence.