This axis gathers 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
So I took a screen apart from them, and We sent to her Our Spirit, and he appeared before her as a well-proportioned man
Reader’s answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur read the term “hijab” in Mary 17, and does he make it evidence that hijab is not clothing?
Shahrur cites Mary 17 as evidence that “hijab” in this passage is a spatial screen that conceals whoever is behind it from sight; Mary took a hijab apart from her people. On the basis of this usage, he maintains that hijab does not mean clothing. However, the evidence establishes his interpretation of the term in the verse and his general conclusion, but does not, within this passage alone, provide an independent detailed treatment of all verses connected with clothing and adornment.
Shahrur defines hijab as a spatial screen that conceals from sight whoever stands behind it, and cites Mary 17 as an example of this. From this understanding, Shahrur concludes that hijab has no connection with clothing.
Evidence and location
Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation — p. 65.
Limits of the reading
- This presents Shahrur’s use of the verse as stated in the evidence; it does not assert that this meaning is the only interpretation of the term “hijab.”
- The argument here concerns the term “hijab” in Mary 17; this evidence alone is insufficient to settle the meaning of other terms connected with clothing or adornment.
- Repetition of the same idea in a second piece of evidence does not add an independent claim necessary for understanding the verse, so one precise piece of evidence is sufficient.
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Brief reading
The verse is made a basis for understanding hijab as a spatial barrier to vision, rather than bodily clothing.
Axes
- Linguistic and semantic
- Methodological
Related concepts
- Hijab: 3
- Spatial barrier: 1
- Vision: 1
Its place in the network of concepts
It contributes to constructing the linguistic meaning of hijab and distinguishing it from its common usage.
Role of the verse in the argument
- Foundational: 2
Instances of use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 294: He makes it an example of the fact that hijab in the Revelation, in his view, is a spatial barrier to vision rather than clothing.
- Concept: hijab
- Function of the verse here: foundational
- Textual evidence: “As He—exalted is He—said concerning Mary: {So I took a screen apart from them …} (Mary 17).”
- Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 65: He makes hijab a spatial screen for vision rather than bodily clothing.
- Concept: hijab
- Function of the verse here: foundational
- Textual evidence: “Hijab has a purely spatial meaning … as He said concerning Mary in His words, exalted is He: {So she took a screen apart from them …} (Mary 17).”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.