An-Nisa
An-Nisa' is the fourth chapter of the Quran, with 176 verses. The title derives from the references to women throughout the chapter, including verse 34 and verses.
In the timing and contextual background of the surah in tradition, it is thought to have been revealed around the fourth year of the Hijrah, although some verses may have come from other times. This would make it a Medinan surah, which came after the flight to Medina.
Summary
- 1 Man and his Creator
- 2 Orphans, the duty of guardians to such
- 3–6 Treat your wives and those your right hands possess fairly
- 7–13 The law of inheritance
- 14–15 The punishment of adulteresses
- 16–18 Repentance enjoined
- 19 Women's rights
- 20–27 Forbidden and lawful degrees in marriage
- 28–30 Gambling, rapine, and suicide forbidden
- 31–33 Men and women will be rewarded according to their deeds
- 34 Reconcilement of man and wife
- 35–36 Parents, orphans, the poor etc. to be kindly treated
- 37–41 Hypocrisy in almsgiving condemned
- 42-43 Prayer forbidden to the drunken and polluted
- 44–45 Jewish mockers denounced
- 46–53 Idolatry the unpardonable sin
- 54–55 The rewards of faith and unbelief
- 56 Trusts to be faithfully paid back
- 57–68 Disputes to be settled by God and his Apostle
- 69–74 Precautions etc., in warring for the faith
- 75–84 The disobedient and cowardly reproved
- 85 Salutations to be returned
- 86–90 Treatment of hypocrites and apostates
- 91–93 Believers not to be slain or plundered
- 94–99 Believers in heathen countries to fly to Muslim lands
- 100–102 Special order for prayer in time of war
- 103 Exhortation to zeal for Islam
- 104–114 Fraud denounced
- 115–125 Idolatry and Islam compared
- 126 Equity in dealing with women and orphans enjoined
- 127–129 Men are protectors of women
- 130–132 God to be feared
- 133 Fraud denounced
- 134–138 Muslims exhorted to steadfastness
- 139–143 Hypocrites to be shunned
- 144–151 The reward of hypocrisy and belief compared
- 152–154 Presumptuous and disobedient Jews destroyed
- 155–158 The Jews defame Mary and Jesus
- 159–160 Certain kinds of food forbidden to Jews as punishment
- 161–168 Muhammad’s inspiration like that of other prophets
- 169–174 Christians reproved for their faith in Jesus as the Son of God and in the doctrine of the Trinity
- 175–176 The law of inheritance for distant relatives
Shirk is held to be the worst form of disbelief, and it is identified in the Quran as the only sin that God will not pardon.
Thematically, "an-Nisā" not only addresses concerns about women, but also discusses inheritance, marriage laws, how to deal with children and orphans, legal practices, jihād, relations between Muslim communities and People of the Book, war, and the role of Jesus as a prophet, rather than the son of God as Christians claimed. Furthermore, in discussing war, this surah encourages the Muslim community to fight for the vulnerable in war, as demonstrated by 4:75: "Why should you not fight in God's cause and for those oppressed men, women, and children who cry out, ‘Lord, rescue us from this town whose people are oppressors! By Your grace, give us a protector and give us a helper!’?" The surah addresses a multitude of issues faced by the early Muslim community and responds to the challenges the community faced. The wide variety of issues addressed in the surah and the length of the surah make it difficult to divide into literary structures. However, based on a study of themes present in each section of the Surah, Amīn Ahsan Islāhī divides the surah into three thematically-based sections: social reform, the Islamic community and its opponents, and a conclusion. Mathias Zahniser presents an alternative means of looking at the structure of this surah. He claims that the central theme of this surah is the address to the Christians. He has come to this conclusion based on examination of the structure of the surah based on such devices as parallels, repetition, and ring composition. However, Carl Ernst admits that more works needs to be done in this type of structural analysis to more fully understand the composition of such extensive suras.
In Qur'an and Woman, Amina Wadud places interpretations of the Quran into three categories: traditional, reactive, and holistic. The type of interpretation one applies to surah 4 greatly influences one's perspective on the role of women within Muslim society. Taking the third approach, a holistic approach allows for a feminist reading of the Quran, which is particularly relevant to an-Nisā and can reshape the understanding of this surah.
Classification
Regarding the timing and contextual background of the believed revelation, it is a Medinan surah as confirmed by Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i, who states that the sura must have been revealed after the hijrah based on the subject matter.Although an-Nisā typically appears as the fourth surah, according to the Nöldeke classification of surahs, based on Islamic traditions, "The Women" was approximately revealed as the hundredth surah. Amir-Ali places it as the 94th surah, while Hz. Osman and Ibn`Abbas believe it is the 92nd. Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq places it as the 91st surah revealed. Based on the legislation concerning orphans, the surah was most likely revealed after many Muslims were killed at the Battle of Uhud, leaving numerous dependants in the new Muslim community. The revelation, therefore, began around the year three, according to the Islamic calendar, but was not completed until the year eight. Consequently, parts of this surah, the second-longest in the Quran, were revealed concurrently with portions of "The Examined Woman," sura 60. However, the surah shows some thematic coherence, despite its disjointed and ongoing revelation.
Furthermore, as relates to the placement of this surah within the Quran as a whole, Neal Robinson notes what he refers to as the "dovetailing" of surahs. Based on this idea of structure, one surah ends with a topic that is immediately picked up in the next surah. The Family of 'Imran, surah 3, includes a discussion of male and female near the end of the surah. This theme continues at the beginning of surah 4: "People, be mindful of your Lord, who created you from a single soul, and from it created its mate, and from the pair of them spread countless men and women far and wide; be mindful of God, in whose name you make requests of one another." This dovetailing may indicate a complex editorial process involved in ordering the surahs.
Exegesis
3 Institutions of Marriage and Slavery
A detailed explanation of this verse is given in the 'interpretation' of Ibn Kathir, a scholar of the Mamluk era:Al-Jalalayn, says:
15–16 Unlawful sexual intercourse
In verses, the first, preliminary directives for the punishment for unlawful sexual intercourse are stated. The first verse deals with women. The punishment laid down was to confine them until further directives were revealed. The second verse relates to both sexes. The injunction lays down that they should be punished – that is, they should be kept refined to houses.22–23 Incest
Verses 4:22-23 cover which classes of women within one's family with whom marriage or sexual intercourse would be considered haram.These relationships and limitations are defined and elaborated on within Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
34 Men are the protectors and maintainers of women
There are a number of interpretations of the original Arabic 4:34.The Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World terms Verse 4:34 the Quran's least egalitarian verse.
Some Muslims, such as Islamic feminist groups, argue that Muslim men use the text as an excuse for domestic violence.