This study aims to reexamine Qur’an 2:233 (“lā tuḍārr wālidatu biwaladihā…”) by presenting the first integrated linguistic, exegetical, and jurisprudential analysis of the verse and by offering a fundamental critique of its pedagogical examination. It demonstrates that such a reading rests on a semantic rupture from the verse’s primary implications. Some contemporary jurisprudential works understand this clause as a prohibition against parental educational harm to the child, considering “neglecting upbringing” as the principal instance of iḍrār. The present research clarifies the invalidity of this attribution in five areas: 1. In the script form of “lā tuḍārr”, there is no graphical distinction between the active and passive voice. 2. The sentence is structurally declarative and does not indicate the enactment of a legal obligation. 3. The harm (ḍarar) in the verse pertains specifically to “the wage of suckling,” and extending it to the realm of upbringing faces several issues, including morphological constraints, the inapplicability of ḍarar to purely negative acts, and the incompleteness of the evidence for expansion. 4. Although the statement is declarative, the legal addressee is the father. 5. The subject of the ruling concerns the mother’s demand for compensation for suckling.
Accordingly, interpreting the verse within the framework of prohibition of financial harm aligns more closely with the context and semantic indications of the verse. This study employs a descriptive–analytical method, utilizing an ijtihād-based approach for deriving the legal ruling and conceptual analysis for examining the semantic implications of key terms. Based on the findings, the phrase (“lā tuḍārr wālidatun biwaladihā…”) in fact addresses the resolution of financial conflicts between parents concerning the wage of suckling, not the child’s care or upbringing.
Dehghani, H. (2025). A Linguistic–Exegetical Analysis of the Verse “Muḍārrah”: A Critique of the Pedagogical Interpretation and an
Explanation of the Semantic Disjunction. Studies of Qur̓anic Sciences, 7(3), 154-184. doi: 10.22081/jqss.2025.72030.1379
MLA
Dehghani, H. . "A Linguistic–Exegetical Analysis of the Verse “Muḍārrah”: A Critique of the Pedagogical Interpretation and an
Explanation of the Semantic Disjunction", Studies of Qur̓anic Sciences, 7, 3, 2025, 154-184. doi: 10.22081/jqss.2025.72030.1379
HARVARD
Dehghani, H. (2025). 'A Linguistic–Exegetical Analysis of the Verse “Muḍārrah”: A Critique of the Pedagogical Interpretation and an
Explanation of the Semantic Disjunction', Studies of Qur̓anic Sciences, 7(3), pp. 154-184. doi: 10.22081/jqss.2025.72030.1379
CHICAGO
H. Dehghani, "A Linguistic–Exegetical Analysis of the Verse “Muḍārrah”: A Critique of the Pedagogical Interpretation and an
Explanation of the Semantic Disjunction," Studies of Qur̓anic Sciences, 7 3 (2025): 154-184, doi: 10.22081/jqss.2025.72030.1379
VANCOUVER
Dehghani, H. A Linguistic–Exegetical Analysis of the Verse “Muḍārrah”: A Critique of the Pedagogical Interpretation and an
Explanation of the Semantic Disjunction. Studies of Qur̓anic Sciences, 2025; 7(3): 154-184. doi: 10.22081/jqss.2025.72030.1379
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