Al-Ahzab 53

4 min read

This page gathers four places where Q. Al-Ahzab 53 is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, and shows how he separates it from other verses in the same field. Its importance lies in distinguishing between instruction and legislation, and between what is specific to the Prophetic household and what pertains to believers in general, thereby making the verse limited in scope and meaning.

The verse as cited

{… AND IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO OFFEND THE MESSENGER OF GOD, NOR TO MARRY HIS WIVES AFTER HIM EVER…}

Brief reading

Shahrur reads the verse as containing an instructional part specific to the Prophet’s household, and a legislative part concerning the prohibition of marrying the Prophet’s wives after him. Through this distinction he determines the scope of hijab and the message, and prevents the extension of the specific ruling to what the text does not indicate in its place.

Axes

  • Legislative
  • Methodological
  • Political and social
  • Prohibition of the Prophet’s wives: 2
  • Instruction: 2
  • Hijab: 2
  • Message: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

The verse enters a network of concepts bringing together hijab, instruction, the prohibition of the Prophet’s wives, and the message. It is central because it sets the boundaries between the private and public spheres, and gives the text a clear place in Shahrur’s reading, which distinguishes between what concerns the Prophet’s household and what concerns general legislation.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Establishing: 2
  • Distinguishing: 2

Summary of its presence in the atlas

  • Separates instruction from legislation
  • Connected to the Prophet’s household and his wives
  • Used to determine the scope of hijab

Pages in the atlas that refer to this verse

These links gather the pages that rely on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.

Uses

  • The messengerly Sunna and the prophetic Sunna, p. 115: He treats it as a legislative text that prohibits marriage to the Prophet’s wives after him, and makes obedience in it continue after death.
    • Concept: Prohibition of the Prophet’s wives
    • Role of the verse here: Establishing
    • Textual evidence: “For God has prohibited marriage to the Prophet’s wives (p)… and followed it with His saying: {… INDEED, THAT WOULD BE, IN THE SIGHT OF GOD, A GRAVE MATTER}”
  • The messengerly Sunna and the prophetic Sunna, p. 115: He separates the instructional part of the verse from the legislative part specific to the prohibition of marrying his wives.
    • Concept: Instruction
    • Role of the verse here: Distinguishing
    • Textual evidence: “At the beginning of the verse, He forbade, by way of instruction and not legislation, entering the Prophet’s house {… DO NOT ENTER THE HOUSES OF THE PROPHET…}”
  • Towards a New Principles for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 275: He makes it a verse specific to the Prophet’s houses and his wives, and says it is instructional, not legislative, for women believers in general.
    • Concept: Hijab
    • Role of the verse here: Establishing
    • Textual evidence: “{ O YOU WHO BELIEVE, DO NOT ENTER THE HOUSES OF THE PROPHET… } (Al-Ahzab 53)”
    • The corresponding traditional reading: Generalizing it to the women of the believers
  • Towards a New Principles for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 275: He distinguishes between the station of prophethood in hijab and the station of the message in the prohibition of marrying the Prophet’s wives after him.
    • Concept: Message
    • Role of the verse here: Distinguishing
    • Textual evidence: “{ AND IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO OFFEND THE MESSENGER OF GOD, NOR TO MARRY HIS WIVES AFTER HIM } (Al-Ahzab 53)”

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

Graph View

Backlinks5

Muhammad Shahrur Atlas