Luqman 14

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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 Cited

And We have enjoined upon the human being concerning his parents: his mother carried him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years…

Reader’s Answer

The Question

How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Qur’anic statement, “And We have enjoined upon the human being concerning his parents: his mother carried him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years,” to distinguish between al-wālidayn and al-abawayn?

Shahrur employs the verse to support a terminological distinction between al-wālidayn (“the biological parents”) as a biological relationship, and al-ab and al-umm (“father and mother”) as a relationship of care and upbringing. In his presentation, he defines the wālīd as the provider of the sperm and the wālida as the provider of the ovum, and connects the mention of the mother’s pregnancy and weaning in the verse with identifying the biological mother and the carrying mother. He then states, in the same passage, that the father and mother may differ from the biological parents, because they are the ones who provide care and upbringing. This reports Shahrur’s reading; it does not claim that the verse explicitly states all these modern distinctions.

Shahrur cites Luqman 14 when defining the wālīd as the provider of the sperm and the wālida as the provider of the ovum, treating it as evidence that al-wālidayn, for him, is a biological concept. He distinguishes the biological parents from the father and mother: in his formulation, the father and mother are those who care for and raise the child, and they may or may not coincide with the biological parents.

Citation and Location

Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 293.

Limits of the Reading

  • The distinction between biological parents as biological and father and mother as social is Shahrur’s terminological formulation, not a linguistic definition explicitly stated by the verse.
  • The verse mentions “the mother” in the context of pregnancy and weaning, but it does not by itself set out a separate, comprehensive definition of the father or of the nurturing mother.
  • The mention of DNA testing and of conclusions concerning care, lineage, or inheritance occurs in Shahrur’s accompanying presentation and should not be attributed to the text of the verse itself.
  • The principal citation here establishes that Shahrur cited the verse for this idea and explicitly drew the distinction; it does not entail a judgment that this distinction is correct or that it should be adopted outside his interpretive project.

Continue From Here

Brief Reading

The verse is made a basis for distinguishing between the biological parents as a biological origin and the father and mother as a social meaning.

Axes

  • Human and ethical
  • Narrative and historical
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Biological parents: 3
  • Parenthood: 2
  • Father and mother: 1

Its Place in the Network of Concepts

It is connected to an important semantic distinction in the concept of family and kinship.

The Verse’s Role in the Argument

  • Foundational: 2
  • Supporting: 1

Instances of Use

  • Islam and Faith, p. 181: He makes it a basis for his distinction between the biological parents and the father and mother, considering that the verse links the biological parents to pregnancy and then to care until weaning.
    • Concept: Biological parents
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “{And We have enjoined upon the human being concerning his parents: his mother carried him in weakness upon weakness…} (Luqman 14).”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 293: He employs it to connect the concepts of the biological father and biological mother to the biological meaning and to distinguish them from the social father and mother.
    • Concept: Parenthood
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “For His, exalted be He, saying: (And We have enjoined upon the human being concerning his parents: his mother carried him …) (Luqman 14).”
  • Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 64: He cites it to connect the biological parents with biology while distinguishing them from the social father and mother.
    • Concept: Biological parents
    • Function of the verse here: Supporting
    • Textual citation: “And the biological mother … according to His saying, exalted be He: { And We have enjoined upon the human being concerning his parents … } (Luqman 14).”

This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas