What is meant
Divorce in this book is not an arbitrary act in the hands of the man alone; rather, it is a stage with conditions, controls, and mutual rights between the spouses. The woman also has material and residential rights in it, and she may not be expelled from the marital home except in the case of manifest indecency. Separation is understood after reconciliation and arbitration when necessary.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: legislative
- Movement of the argument: it treats divorce as a regulated right, not as an arbitrary act.
- Central terms: divorce, mutual rights, the home, reconciliation.
- Degree of centrality: central.
This atom regulates divorce within stages and rights, preventing it from being reduced to a unilateral decision, and linking it to reconciliation, arbitration, and material and residential safeguards, thereby preserving balance between the two parties.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence
- Woman, Family, and Dress
- Mutual right of divorce and the home remains with the wife
Basis
- Supporting text: “The verses concerning recalcitrance, discord, and separation in the Women chapter are understood within the framework of first mending the relationship, then arbitration, then separation when necessary. Divorce in the Wise Revelation has stages, rights, and controls; it is not an arbitrary ‘occurrence’ by three words. In divorce, the woman has material and residential rights, and she may not be expelled from the marital home except in the case of manifest indecency. The ‘muḥallil’ is an unjust juristic invention with no basis in the Revelation.”
Place of support in the book
- Book: Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence.
- Location: in the final section of the book, where he interprets separation, discord, and divorce.
- Type of support: close witness.
- Mark for verification: separation is divorce
- Reading note: this passage is suitable as evidence because it explains separation as divorce after reconciliation has become impossible, and it is very close to the atom’s content.
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 wording above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted textually.
Its function in the book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares for it.
Related to
Editorial note
The atom returns divorce to the structure of rights and duties.