This page gathers four instances of the use of al-Ahzab 59 in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, where it appears as a phased instruction tied to a specific social context. Its central point is that it links the jilbab to warding off social harm, and distinguishes between situational discourse and a permanent obligation for all.
The verse as cited
O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters, and the women of the believers to draw close over themselves some of their jilbabs. That is more likely that they will be recognized and not harmed. And God is Forgiving, Merciful.
Brief reading
Shahrur uses the verse to interpret the jilbab as clothing for going out into society, not as an eternal general ruling. He also connects it to a clear social cause based on recognition and harm, and makes the wording of the verse indicate partiality and approximation, in keeping with his reading of it as instruction for a specific circumstance.
Axes
- Political and social
- Legislative
- Methodological
Related concepts
- jilbab: 3
- instruction, not legislation: 2
- social harm: 2
Its place in the conceptual network
The verse lies within a network that brings together the jilbab, instruction rather than legislation, and social harm. It is central because it gives the clothing for going out a context-bound meaning, and links women’s presence in society to the prevention of harm, without transferring the text into an absolute ruling beyond its proper setting.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Foundation: 3
- Distinction: 1
Summary of its presence in the atlas
- Read as guidance for a social circumstance
- Connected to the jilbab and social harm
- Distinguishes between instruction and legislation
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.
Related atoms
Related clusters
Related structural theses
Uses
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 276: He considers it an instructional verse for a specific social circumstance, and makes the jilbab a temporary garment for going out, intended to ward off harm rather than serve as an eternal obligation.
- Concept: jilbab
- Function of the verse here: Foundation
- Textual evidence: «{ O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters… } (al-Ahzab 59)»
- Corresponding traditional reading: a permanent legislative ruling for the women of the believers
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 298: He cites it to show that the address is directed to the Prophet as a phased instruction to avert harm, not as an eternal legislation imposing fixed clothing.
- Concept: instruction, not legislation
- Function of the verse here: Distinction
- Textual evidence: «{ O Prophet, tell your wives … } (al-Ahzab 59). Here the verse begins with: { O Prophet }, so it is a verse of instruction, not a verse of legislation»
- Corresponding traditional reading: the verse was understood in Medina in a phased sense, so it was linked to sparing believing women exposure to harm
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 298: He makes it a basis for social outer dress, and reads “min” as partitive and “yudnina” as approximation rather than absolute compulsion.
- Concept: jilbab
- Function of the verse here: Foundation
- Textual evidence: «This verse teaches believing women the outer garment exclusively, or the clothing for going out into society, which he called the jilbab… Therefore, He said: { to draw close over themselves some of their jilbabs } (al-Ahzab 59) for partitivity»
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 298: He explains the purpose of the jilbab as avoiding social harm resulting from recognition and mixing, not merely as a fixed devotional rule.
- Concept: social harm
- Function of the verse here: Foundation
- Textual evidence: «Because the cause was stated, namely recognition and harm… note the “causal fa” and the sequence between recognition and harm, which we call social harm»
Related books
This page is presented within the general method of atlas construction.