A Re-examination of the Revelation Occasion of the Quranic Verse al-Rijal Qawwamun (4:34) on the base of Isnad-cum-Matn Analysis Methodology

Abstract

Verse 34 of surah An-Nisa, especially in two parts; men’s supporting or in charging of women, and proposed Quranic three steps to facing women disobedience, has been especially considered by Islamic commentators and scholars. There is a tradition that many commentators have interpreted concepts such as “qawwamun” and “idribuhunna” in the verse according to it. In this paper, different versions of this tradition have been examined using the Isnad-cum-matn analysis method. The results of this study show that the wording of this tradition is late and the earliest version belongs to the late first century and is by Hassan Basri. The subject of the earlier commentators in expressing this tradition is the issue of retaliation of couples, the analysis of which depends on the concept of “qawwamun”. The analyses show that this retaliation is not related to the discussion of "idribuhunna" and approving or denying of the beating of women. It seems that this retaliation cannot be used as a basis in the analysis of verse 34 of An-Nisa. Also, according to other traditions that referred to the concept of “qawwamun”, it seems that the word “rȃ” is synonymous with “qawwam” meaning “protection”.

Keywords

• critique of hadith
• verse 34 of nisa
• the strength of men
• critical analysis
• method of document-text analysis