The Prophets 91

3 min read

This axis brings together 1 locus in which this verse is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

Text of the Verse as Cited

{And she who guarded her private parts, so We breathed into her of Our spirit, and made her and her son a sign for all the worlds}

Reader’s Answer

Question

How does Shahrur employ Qur’an 21:91 in his discussion of chastity and civilizational context?

Shahrur employs the verse as praise for Mary because she reached sexual maturity while being “a protected virgin whom no human had touched.” He then compares this praise with a contemporary context in which it would not be remarkable for a woman to remain a virgin to a certain age; in his view, this establishes that the import of the praise is connected to the civilizational context in which the verse was stated, rather than to the description in isolation from its context.

Shahrur reads God’s words, “and she who guarded her private parts,” as praise for Mary, interpreting them to mean that she reached the age of sexual maturity as a virgin whom no human had touched. He links this praise to a comparison between the context in which the verse appeared and that of the twenty-first century; he says that describing a contemporary woman as having remained a protected virgin until, for example, the age of twenty would not provoke the same surprise.

Citation and Location

State and Society — p. 51.

Limits of the Reading

  • The citation establishes Shahrur’s reading of the verse and his use of a civilizational comparison, but it is not by itself sufficient to establish that he held a complete general theory of chastity or sexual ethics.
  • The quoted passage ends while presenting the contemporary example; therefore, no subsequent detail or final conclusion not present in the citation should be attributed to it.
  • The citation does not distinguish between the verse’s interpretive import and an independent historical assessment of particular societies; it conveys Shahrur’s use of the text as it appears in his book.

Continue From Here

Brief Reading

Shahrur uses it as an example of praising chastity, understood as sexual protection, within a particular civilizational context.

Axes

  • Human and ethical
  • Political and social
  • Chastity: 2
  • Sexual protection: 1
  • Civilizational context: 1

Its Place in the Network of Concepts

It is connected to his ethical reading of behavior amid differing social environments.

Role of the Verse in the Argument

  • Example: 1

Loci of Use

  • State and Society, p. 51: He uses it as an example of praising sexual protection within a particular civilizational context that differs from the prevailing milieu.
    • Concept: chastity
    • Function of the verse here: example
    • Textual citation: “God—Exalted be He—mentioned Mary daughter of عمران in His Revelation and praised her in His words: {And she who guarded her private parts, so We breathed into her of Our spirit, and made her and her son a sign for all the worlds} (The Prophets 91),”

This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.

Graph View

Muhammad Shahrur Atlas