Women 25

3 min read

This axis brings together 2 instances of the 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

Then, once they are married, if they commit an indecency, they shall receive half the punishment prescribed for married women

Reader’s Answer

Question

Where does the verse occur, what distinction does Shahrur derive from it, and what function does it serve in his argument?

The verse occurs in Women 25. Shahrur employs it to object to attributing stoning to death as the punishment for the adultery of a married person; he holds that the mention of “half the punishment” is incompatible with the death penalty. He also states that stoning was part of the law of Moses and that the Wise Revelation abolished it.

Shahrur cites Women 25 to reject the juristic view that the punishment for the adultery of a married person is stoning to death, because the punishment mentioned in the verse can be halved, whereas neither execution nor death can be imagined as divisible in half. Shahrur maintains that the stoning of the married adulterer and the married adulteress occurred in the law of Moses and was then abolished in the Wise Revelation.

Citation and Location

Islam and Faith — p. 55.

Limits of the Reading

  • The citation does not independently explain the technical meaning of “marriage,” “indecency,” or “punishment.”
  • The citation does not substantiate a claim about the meaning of female slaves or about the effect of the traditional reading on the meaning of female slaves.
  • The citation refers to his understanding of the punishment of the polytheist man and woman in Surat al-Nur, but does not cite the two verses or explain their content here.

Continue from Here

Brief Reading

The verse is used to challenge the juristic understanding that construed it as referring to stoning, and to show the effect of the traditional reading on the meaning of female slaves.

Axes

  • Legislative
  • Punishment: 2
  • Female slaves: 2

Its Place in the Conceptual Network

It enters into a reconsideration of the hadd punishment and the meaning of the phrase commonly circulated in the tradition.

Role of the Verse in the Argument

  • Critique of tradition: 2

Instances of Use

  • Islam and Faith, p. 55: He uses it to challenge the juristic claim of stoning to death, because the verse entails half the punishment, not half of execution.
    • Concept: punishment
    • Function of the verse here: critique of tradition
    • Textual citation: “{… Then, once they are married, if they commit an indecency, they shall receive half the punishment prescribed for married women…} (Women 25).”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: The jurists say: it is stoning to death. We say: this is incorrect!!
  • The State and Society, p. 266: He cites the traditional reading to affirm that exegetes assigned “those whom your right hands possess” the meaning of owned female slaves.
    • Concept: female slaves
    • Function of the verse here: critique of tradition
    • Textual citation: “Al-Tabari states: … that is, marry believing female slaves.”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: female slaves

This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas