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

Text of the verse as cited

And those who pronounce ẓihār against their wives … then the freeing of a slave

Reader’s answer

Question

Where does Shahrur cite the verse, what does he establish with it, and what function does it serve in his argument about manumission?

Shahrur cites Al-Mujādilah 3 in The State and Society (p. 259), among Qur’anic examples he presents after stating that the message encouraged Muslims to free male and female slaves. The function of the verse here is to show the freeing of a slave in the context of ẓihār, rather than to construct an independent terminological distinction among the expressions for manumission or to set out a complete course for abolishing slavery.

Shahrur cites Al-Mujādilah 3 as an example of the occurrence of freeing a slave in the context of his discussion of the message’s encouragement of new Muslims to free male and female slaves, placing it alongside other examples concerning the freeing of a slave.

Citation and location

The State and Society — p. 259.

Limits of the reading

  • The citation does not state that Al-Mujādilah 3 alone establishes a “gradual progression toward the abolition of slavery.”
  • The citation does not offer a semantic distinction between “freeing a slave” and “manumission,” or between this verse and others.
  • This passage alone does not establish a detailed ruling on the expiation for ẓihār beyond citing the verse in the context of encouraging manumission.

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Brief reading

He cites it as a passage that makes manumission an expiation, thereby supporting a gradual trajectory toward the abolition of slavery.

Axes

  • Legislative
  • Political and social
  • Freeing a slave: 2
  • Manumission: 1
  • Abolition of slavery: 1

Its place in the conceptual network

It is linked to a legislative trajectory leading to the reduction of slavery.

Role of the verse in the argument

  • Support: 1

Loci of use

  • The State and Society, p. 259: He cites it as one of the instances in which manumission is made an expiation, thereby supporting a gradual trajectory toward the abolition of slavery.
    • Concept: Freeing a slave
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “- {And those who pronounce ẓihār against their wives … then the freeing of a slave …} (Al-Mujādilah 3).”

This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.