An-Nisāʾ 7

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This locus gathers 3 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

The verse as cited

For men is a share of what parents and close relatives leave, and for women is a share of what parents and close relatives leave, whether little or much—a prescribed share.

Brief reading

The verse is used to distinguish between the share in bequest and the rules of inheritance, and to highlight the significance of men in the context.

Loci

  • Legislative
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Inheritance: 2
  • Share: 2
  • Men: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

It is linked to criticism of the inherited traditional understanding and to the semantic differentiation between texts.

The role of the verse in the argument

  • Distinction: 2
  • Critique of tradition: 1

Instances of use

  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 205: He cites the verse to show that depriving a daughter of inheritance contradicts the Wise Revelation, not the verse itself.
    • Concept: inheritance
    • Function of the verse here: critique of tradition
    • Textual evidence: “God, Exalted be He, says: {For men is a share…} (An-Nisāʾ 7). Yet the overwhelming majority… still do not give the daughter her right of inheritance.”
    • The corresponding traditional reading: the operative laws of the “science of prescribed shares” consider the son to exclude a male, whereas a female does not.
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 172: He distinguishes it from the inheritance verses and says that “share” here means a portion in bequest, not a portion in inheritance.
    • Concept: share
    • Function of the verse here: distinction
    • Textual evidence: “{For men is a share of what parents and close relatives leave} (An-Nisāʾ 7) is a statement concerning bequest”
    • The corresponding traditional reading: treating it as one of the inheritance verses
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, pp. 242-243: He uses the verse to confirm that the word men may come to mean males, as a prelude to understanding the verses on guardianship.
    • Concept: men
    • Function of the verse here: distinction
    • Textual evidence: “We found that it may mean the plural of ‘males,’ as in His saying, Exalted be He: {For men is a share…}”

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

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