What is meant here
What is meant in this record is not to define “the righteous women” in a general sense, but to restrict the term to the context of qiwāmah. This is a reading attributed to Shahrur in the episode summary and requires review of the original source before it is adopted in definitive terms.
What is attributed to Shahrur
The unreviewed record summarizes the claim that “the righteous women” are understood here as connected to qiwāmah, rather than to general righteousness or acts of worship. Calling them “righteous for qiwāmah” is a summary formulation in the record, not a verbatim quotation from Shahrur. The source for this attribution is Episode 29, but the recorded evidence is an unreviewed summary and does not provide a direct quotation.
Atlas explanation
The proposed distinction is between a general sense of righteousness and a sense restricted by the function of qiwāmah in the passage under consideration. This record does not mean that the term bears no connection to general righteousness in other usages; rather, it describes a specific contextual claim that requires verification.
Conclusion
If the attribution is confirmed after reviewing the episode, the function of the claim is to prevent transferring the meaning of “the righteous women” from the general domain to this passage without taking its context into account. The available evidence does not establish the details of this context or its interpretive implications.
Open question
What exact wording did Shahrur use in the episode, and what context explains why he restricted “the righteous women” to qiwāmah? The original recording must be consulted, along with Toward New Principles for Islamic Jurisprudence, to determine whether the book provides parallel textual support.