Women 3

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This verse recurs in Shahrur’s project because it is one of the verses on which he builds his understanding of polygamy and its limits, and of the relationship between polygamy and justice. It is central for him because it allows the family to be read in light of equity, not in light of unrestrained expansion.

The verse as cited

AND IF YOU FEAR THAT YOU WILL NOT DEAL JUSTLY WITH THE ORPHANS, THEN MARRY WHAT SEEMS GOOD TO YOU OF WOMEN, TWO OR THREE OR FOUR. BUT IF YOU FEAR THAT YOU WILL NOT BE JUST, THEN [MARRY] ONLY ONE, OR WHAT YOUR RIGHT HANDS POSSESS. THAT IS MORE LIKELY THAT YOU WILL NOT BE INCLINED TO INJUSTICE

Brief reading

Shahrur understands the verse as restricting polygamy by the condition of justice, and linking it to the care of orphans and to financial and moral discipline. He also distinguishes in its wording between what belongs to the revelatory context and what belongs to inherited readings that widened its meaning or detached it from its context.

Axes

  • Legislative
  • Political and social
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Right-hand possession: 2
  • Polygyny: 2
  • Justice: 2
  • Equity: 2
  • Women: 2
  • Marital plurality: 1
  • Plurality: 1
  • Orphans and justice: 1

Its place in the network of concepts

The verse is linked to polygamy, justice, equity, women, and right-hand possession. It is central because it enters into the construction of his conception of the family and reciprocal rights, and reveals how he links social legislation to fairness and to precise language.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Support: 4
  • Distinction: 2
  • Critique of the tradition: 1
  • Example: 1

Summary of its presence in the atlas

  • Polygamy is conditioned by justice
  • It is connected to orphans and equity
  • One of the most important loci of family and rights

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.

Places of use

  • State and Society, p. 266: He presents al-Tabari’s reading to show that the tradition confined “what your right hands possess” to slave girls and concubines, in preparation for opposing it with a contemporary reading.
    • Concept: Right-hand possession
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of the tradition
    • Textual witness: “al-Tabari mentions in his commentary the concept of right-hand possession: … LET HIM RESTRICT HIMSELF TO ONE OR TO SLAVE GIRLS, CONCUBINES”
    • The corresponding traditional reading: slave girls, concubines
  • The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna, p. 116: He makes it the highest revelatory limit for believers, then distinguishes it from the special permission granted to the Prophet in al-Ahzab 50.
    • Concept: Polygyny
    • Function of the verse here: Distinction
    • Textual witness: “Unlike what is stated in the verses of the message, which set an upper limit on the number of wives as four wives in His saying: {MARRY…} النساء ٣”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 276: He uses it to affirm that justice here means equality and the absence of wrongdoing in treatment.
    • Concept: Justice
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual witness: “And His saying {… BUT IF YOU FEAR THAT YOU WILL NOT BE JUST, THEN [MARRY] ONLY ONE…} (al-Nisa 3).”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 276: He cites it to confirm the meaning of equity as benevolence and justice in care.
    • Concept: Equity
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual witness: “And His saying تعالى {AND IF YOU FEAR THAT YOU WILL NOT DEAL EQUITABLY WITH THE ORPHANS…} (al-Nisa 3).”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 382: He presents it as an example of a ruling that came ahead of its time and has not yet been implemented, as one of the rulings tied to social development.
    • Concept: Marital plurality
    • Function of the verse here: Example
    • Textual witness: “An example of that is verse number 3 of Surat al-Nisa, which speaks about marital plurality; the civilizational condition of the Arabs up to now has not yet reached the level of this verse”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 387: He uses it within a comparison of rulings to show that this verse came with a new social ordering that falls under the rulings of the message.
    • Concept: Plurality
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual witness: ”– {AND GIVE THE ORPHANS THEIR PROPERTY … AND IF YOU FEAR THAT YOU WILL NOT DEAL JUSTLY WITH THE ORPHANS, THEN MARRY …} (al-Nisa 2, 3)”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 460: He cites it to connect the care of orphans with financial and educational responsibility together within the organization of the family and justice.
    • Concept: Orphans and justice
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual witness: “As for the financial responsibility and the educational responsibility together, this came in His saying…”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 503: He considers it indicative of the specific meaning of women, namely females, because the context is one of marriage and plurality.
    • Concept: Women
    • Function of the verse here: Distinction
    • Textual witness: “And His saying {.. MARRY WHAT SEEMS GOOD TO YOU OF WOMEN …} (al-Nisa 3) means here females”

This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.

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Backlinks3

Muhammad Shahrur Atlas