This axis brings together 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 quoted
And let those who do not find marriage keep themselves chaste … and those who seek a contract from among those whom your right hands possess—then contract with them (…) and do not compel your slave girls to prostitution
Brief reading
The verse is used to negate the institutionalization of traditional slavery, and to link the meaning of fatat to a social relationship, not to a specific age.
Axes
- Legislative
- Political and social
- Linguistic and semantic
Related concepts
- Contracting and coercion: 2
- Association: 2
- Fatat: 2
Its place in the conceptual network
It connects social ruling and linguistic signification in understanding relationships.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 2
- Critique of the tradition: 1
Instances of use
- State and Society, p. 267: He uses it to show that the verse forbids coercing women workers/servants and legislates contractual emancipation, rather than entrenching the traditional system of slavery.
- Concept: contracting and coercion
- The function of the verse here: critique of the tradition
- Textual evidence: ““AND DO NOT COMPEL YOUR SLAVE GIRLS TO PROSTITUTION”… the people of ignorance used to … send out a slave woman to commit fornication … when Islam came, God forbade the believers from that”
- The corresponding traditional reading: masters and slaves
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 293: He uses it to affirm that the meaning of fatat for him is tied to a social relationship, not to age.
- Concept: association
- The function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “And likewise His saying: {AND DO NOT COMPEL YOUR SLAVE GIRLS TO PROSTITUTION …} (al-Nur 33), meaning that age has nothing to do with that”
- A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 65: He cites it as evidence that fatat in the Qur’an is not an age-based definition, but a life-affiliation relationship.
- Concept: fatat
- The function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “And likewise His saying: { … AND DO NOT COMPEL YOUR SLAVE GIRLS TO PROSTITUTION … } (al-Nur 33), meaning that age has nothing to do with that”
Related books
- State and Society
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism
- A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation
This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.