Intended meaning
The khimar here is not confined to a head covering as is commonly understood; rather, it is a covering that is cast or drawn over the bosoms. In this way, the text connects the khimar to covering the area of the chest and the opening at the bosom, not merely to covering the head.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: interpretive
- Direction of the argument: it redefines the khimar as a covering for the bosoms.
- Key terms: khimar, bosoms, covering.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
This weakens the association of the khimar with covering the head alone, and redirects the meaning toward covering the area of the chest and what is connected to it from the bosom.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence
- Women, the Family, and Dress
- Hijab as a concept of dress that does not match common conventions
Basis
- Supporting text: “The khimar: a covering thrown over the bosoms, not exclusively a head khimar.”
Basis location in the book
- Book: Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence.
- Location: in the final section of the book within the interpretation of the khimar and the bosoms.
- Type of basis: close witness.
- Verification marker: and let them draw their coverings over their bosoms
- Reading note: This location is suitable as evidence because it explicitly states that the khimar is a covering drawn over the bosoms, not over the head alone, and it is close to the atom.
Degree of documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is cited verbatim.
Its function in the book
Its function here is definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
The atom shifts the center of meaning from the head to the bosom.