{"collection":"Texts of Islam","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_isl_004_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_isl_004_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_isl_004_htm","license":"unknown_pending_legal_review","rights_basis":"sacred_texts_v1_preview_gate_primary_text_only; acquisition-method/ToS and compilation-copyright questions still open, not resolved by this gate","source":"sacred_texts_v1","source_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/isl/004.htm","summary":"This is an excerpt from Surah 4 (An-Nisa, \"The Women\") of the Quran, rendered here in a 19th-century English translation notable for its archaic register. The passage is Medinan \u2014 revealed during the period of early Islamic community-building in Medina \u2014 and functions primarily as divine legislation rather than narrative or theological argument. Its content is densely prescriptive, covering inheritance shares for sons, daughters, parents, spouses, and distant kin; rules on marriage (including prohibited degrees of relation, polygamy capped at four wives conditional on equitable treatment, and dowry obligations); and the treatment of orphans' property. It also addresses adultery and its punishment, ritual purity before prayer, and obligations toward the poor, neighbors, and those under one's household authority. Among its most distinctive claims: men are declared \"superior\" to women and granted authority to admonish, confine, and strike disobedient wives; male heirs receive double the inheritance share of females; and non-Muslims \u2014 specifically Jews accused of distorting scripture \u2014 are condemned as cursed and misguided. A reader coming to this passage should expect detailed legal material embedded within theological framing, not devotional reflection.","tags":[],"text":null,"title":"004","tradition":"Texts of Islam","translated_text":null,"word_count":6864}