Divorce 6

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This axis gathers 1 locus of use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

Text of the Verse as Cited

… AND IF THEY ARE PREGNANT, THEN SPEND ON THEM UNTIL THEY GIVE BIRTH…

Reader’s Answer

Question

Where does the verse occur, what do pregnancy and delivery indicate for Shahrur, and what function does it serve in his argument?

The verse occurs in Surat al-Talaq, verse 6. Shahrur uses it within a group of verses on pregnancy and delivery to establish the sequence of fertilization, then pregnancy, then delivery in constructing his conception of the “birth-giver” and the “mother,” rather than to establish that pregnancy is an independent ruling in itself.

Shahrur cites al-Talaq 6 among verses that he connects with the two stages of pregnancy and delivery, making it part of his sequence: fertilization, then pregnancy, then delivery. At this point, Shahrur distinguishes between the role of the father, which he confines to the stage of fertilization, and the role of the birth-giver, to whom he attributes the ovum, then pregnancy and delivery; he connects the convergence of these stages in a single female with her description as a birth-giver and a mother in his presentation.

Citation and Location

Islam and Faith — p. 181.

Limits of the Reading

  • The cited passage does not state that pregnancy is “a state in itself with rulings”; therefore, this claim is not attributed to Shahrur here.
  • The cited passage does not offer a detailed interpretation of the maintenance mentioned in the verse, nor does it derive an independent juristic ruling from it.
  • The distinction presented is specific to Shahrur’s formulation in this passage; the cited passage alone does not establish any claim about synonymy, or its absence, among Qur’anic terms.

Continue From Here

Brief Reading

Here, the verse serves as an example that pregnancy is a state in itself with a ruling extending until delivery.

Axes

  • Legislative
  • Human and Ethical
  • Pregnancy: 2
  • Rulings: 1
  • Delivery: 1

Its Place in the Conceptual Network

It is linked to the concept of pregnancy as a special condition understood within the ordering of rulings.

Role of the Verse in the Argument

  • Example: 1

Loci of Use

  • Islam and Faith, p. 181: He employs it to affirm that pregnancy is a state in itself with rulings until delivery occurs.
    • Concept: Pregnancy
    • Function of the verse here: Example
    • Textual citation: “{… AND IF THEY ARE PREGNANT, THEN SPEND ON THEM UNTIL THEY GIVE BIRTH…} (al-Talaq 6).”

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

Graph View

Muhammad Shahrur Atlas