This locus gathers 3 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

Text of the verse as quoted

… and the men who guard their private parts, and the women who guard…

Brief reading

In Shahrur’s work, the verse appears to expand the meaning of chastity and God-consciousness into a comprehensive moral discourse that is not limited to a single social status.

Loci

  • Human and ethical
  • Faith-based
  • Methodological
  • Chastity: 2
  • Individual God-consciousness: 2
  • Equality: 2
  • Guarding: 1
  • Men and women: 1

Its place in the network of concepts

It is linked to equality in moral discourse and to understanding qualities as distributed across individuals.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Support: 2
  • Critique of the tradition: 1

Instances of use

  • Islam and Faith, p. 220: He cites it to expand the meaning of guarding to general ethical conduct among men and women, not to marriage alone.
    • Concept: Chastity
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: «- {… and the men who guard their private parts, and the women who guard…} (Al-Ahzab 35).»
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 465: He understands it as an enabling verse, not an impossible demand, because the qualities in it are distributed among different individuals rather than belonging to one person.
    • Concept: Individual God-consciousness
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of the tradition
    • Textual evidence: «If we look at this verse… we can hardly find among the inhabitants of the earth anyone to whom all these qualities apply»
    • The corresponding traditional reading: understanding it as qualities of a single person or of a fully qualified group
  • Towards New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 132: He uses it as evidence for the equality of the faith-based and moral address between men and women.
    • Concept: Equality
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: «{Indeed, the Muslim men and the Muslim women … God has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward} (Al-Ahzab 35),»

This page is presented within the general methodology of building the atlas.