Polygamy in Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd’s Perpective

Polygamy is still a debatable topic. It is founded on QS An- Nisa's which permits having more than one wife under fair conditions. Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd was one of the mufassir figures who attempted to revise the previous mufassir figures' beliefs or interpretations. He tries to elaborate the polygamy verse's implicit meaning using his hermeneutic method. Abu Zayd's technique is divided into two parts; importance and maghza. The significance meaning things can be determined by recalling the time. Maghza is a word that does not appear in the stanza. Hence, the underlying meaning of the text is that monogamy exists because a husband's justice is unachievable. This is an open access article under the CC BY


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into a critical and forward-thinking learner. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1972 and thereafter worked as a teaching assistant in the same field (Susanto et al., 2020).
He was a visiting lecturer at Japan's Osaka University of Foreign Studies from 1985 to 1989. This period can be regarded Abu Zayd's most prolific because he completed his book Mafhum al-Nas: Dirasah fi Ulum al-Quran (Textuality of the Qur'an: The Study of the Qur'anic Sciences) as well as other pieces that were published. Naqd al-Khitab al-Diniy is one of his works (Criticism of Religious Discourse). Both of these publications attempt to find a way to remove Al-Quran from the influence of particular organizations. He believed that defining the objective nature of the text would minimize or even eliminate ideological interpretations (Munjin, 2018).
On May 9, 1992, Abu Zayd applied for a full professor promotion at Cairo University, a month after Ibthal Ahmad Kamal Yunis, Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Cairo University, had been promoted. At the time, Abu Zayd submitted to the examining committee two books, al-Imam al-Syafi'i and Naqd Khitab al-Dini, as well as eleven papers. Two of the three examiners agreed with Abu Zayd's work, but the committee ultimately chose Dr. 'Abd al-Sabur Syahin, who accused Abu Zayd of undermining Islamic orthodoxy in the areas of the Koran, the Prophet, the Companions, Angels, and other supernatural beings. The committee ultimately denied Abu Zayd's advancement, and he was labeled an apostate (Ahmadi, 2017).
In 1993, the Bar Association filed a divorce petition against Abu Zayd, claiming that a Muslim lady cannot marry a non-Muslim. Despite these difficulties, the Tunisian president awarded Abu Zayd the Republication of Merit for Service to Arab Culture. He was promoted to full professor in June 1995, and Abu Zayd and his wife departed Egypt on July 26, 1995, to become visiting professors of Islamic studies at Leiden University. The Egyptian court of cassation issued a ruling on August 5, 1996, bolstering the Cairo appeals court (Ahmadi, 2017). Many books in the field of Islamic studies have been written by Abu Zayd. Al Ittijihat al-Aql fi al-Tafsir: Dirasah fi Qadiyah al-Majaz 'inda Mu'tazilah and Falsafah Ta'wil: Dirasah fi Ta'wil al-Quran 'inda Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, both theses and dissertations for a master's degree and a Ph.D. at Mafhum al-Nass: Dirasat fi Ulum al-Qur'an" was also written by him as a new methodology for understanding the Koran's text. This book is a response to many discussions about the dialectical relationship between text and reality, as well as the struggle of Islamic discourse. Abu Zayd believes that the technique for understanding the Koran needs to be reconstructed as a result of his critical stance toward the presence of this discourse (Susanto et al., 2020). Abu Zayd's ambition to examine traditions, particularly religious traditions (turas ad-dini), utilizing discourse analysis as a methodological tool drove him to study the Koran. In traditional religious discourse, he questioned the concept of the text and the challenges of interpretation. He investigates these issues by rereading the ulumul Quran critically and analytically. It also aims to find the origins of the "present" in the structure of previous discourse. Abu Zayd attempts to dissect the character of the text's veracity, which is defined by the social, cultural, and historical context, in his work al-Nash, al Sultah, wa al-Haqiqah (Text, Authority, and Truth).

Abu Zayd's Qur'an Hermeneutics
Al-Qur'an, according to Abu Zayd, is a muntaj tsaqafi (cultural product). Al-Qur'an is just a historical phenomenon that is subject to the rules of history (Zayd, 2003). Then Abu Zayd differentiates between nash (text) and mushaf (religious law) (book). The term "text" refers to written material that requires comprehension, explanation, and interpretation. The mushaf, on the other hand, refers to a piece of writing in its physical form, such as an artefact or a collection of texts. Abu Zayd's concern arises from the realities of a weak Arab nation contending with an alliance of external foes, including international imperialism and Israeli Zionism, conservative, hegemonic internal forces. The Arabs have a variety of responses to it. Conservatives think that the only way out is to revert to Islam by enacting Islamic law in all aspects of personal and communal life. They are proud of the advancements made by Muslims during the golden age. They also believe that Muslims are the only ones who can create development because they adhere to the texts and make them a legal guide in their life. When the text is isolated from reality, the group inadvertently denies the objective of revelation and the Shari'a. The Shari'a has structured itself in unison with the evolution of the realities of Islamic society (Zayd, 2005).
Meanwhile, the reformers realized that the ancient scholars was impossible because they comprehended Al-Qur'an and developed traditions based on their own location and time. As a result, only positive ideas are picked up and updated in language that is relevant for today's space and time. The most essential thing is to find a way to reconcile honesty with the existing circumstances. Thus, regeneration must be predicated on the existence of the previous beginning. Tradition is a collection of tendencies rather than a single truth. With these traditions, the reformer has no choice but to make a decision based on his position in relation to the reality he encounters.
A scientific understanding of the substance of tradition, culture, and the processes that shape it is required for such a renewal to exist. The substance of Islamic Arab culture, according to Abu Zayd, is text civilization. The text serves as the cornerstone for Arabic-Islamic knowledge and culture, which grows and stands solid. Al-Quran might be considered the central text in the history of Arab civilization as a linguistic text. As a result, Al-Quran plays an important cultural function in forming civilization and dictating the type and character of the sciences that emerge from it (Munir, 2019).
Ijtihad (free thought) and ijtihad (Islamic law) are inextricably linked in Abu Zayd's life. There is nothing that can stop a person from thinking. He will not accept Al-Quran and hadith being used as weapons to oppress another group, nor will he accept AL-Quran and hadith being used as tools to satisfy a few people. Al-Quran, as God's word, should be able to discourse and respond to situations at any time and in any place. Abu Zayd's opinion is a strong foundation on which to build direction. "I believe then that I am a Muslim," he said. Ijtihad is directly tied to the crucial and fundamental role of reason in establishing faith and guidance. It is permitted in Islam, even if it proves to be incorrect, and it is rewarded (Busriyanti, 2017).
In comprehending some of the issues that remain unsolved and only provide partial solutions, Abu Zayd proposes manhaj al-tajdid, a "technique of contextual reading (manhaj al-qira 'ah al-siyaqiyah)." This approach is not new in the sense that it evolved from the conventional ushul fiqh method, and is a continuation of Muhammad Abduh and Amin al Khulli's supporters. Ushul academics connect the ulum al-Qur'an to features of linguistics rules or use linguistics as the primary tool for producing and performing legal istinbath from the text. The instrument utilized by ushul scholars, according to Abu Zayd, is particularly essential since it emphasizes the existence of asbaab and Nuzul. However, the breadth of perspective such as a collection of socio-historical conditions in the 7th century AD or when the revelation came down differs from Abu Zayd's contextual understanding (Ichwan, 2003).
Nasr Hamid distinguishes between metaphysical and physical texts in his work. In "The original sacred book's condition is metaphysical," he explained that therefore it can only be recognized by the physical text, which reaches us through the historically changing dimension of mankind. The truth is that no one claims to know God's will, and God's will is communicated to us through the physical text. However, the hermeneutic implications of such epistemological statements are incompatible with Muslims' common understanding of Al-Qur'an because it presents Al-Quran as an open text like any other corpus of literature, this form of epistemological assertion prepared the desacralization in the reading of Al-Quran (Sirry, 2015). Abu Zayd's argument begins with the fact that when the metaphysical and sacred Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, it entered historical space and became subject to historical and sociological rules. Despite its divine origins, the text becomes human, encompassing all aspects of Arab society in the seventh century AD, including cultural, political, and ideological elements. The holy text has been influenced by human reasoning since it was definitively expressed. Therefore, it has detached itself from its divinity and has become a human text. In other words, the text is separated from its divine dimension when revelation causes the text to be secularized becomes a common book. As a product of the cultural structure, religious texts are ultimately nothing more than linguistic texts (Sirry, 2015).
In this case, Abu Zayd sees the importance of using hermeneutics to provide new interpretation notions in the field of Islamic philosophy. It examines the meaning, particularly in literary studies, which began with F. Schleiermacher's hermeneutics and continues with Dilthey, Heidegger, Gadamer, and Ricoeur (Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd). When it comes to comprehen Abu Zayd's hermeneutics, there are a few factors to think of. The first is validity of interpretation, meaning and relevance, and context levels. All three must be understood in order to comprehend Abu Zayd's hermeneutics.

Validity of interpretation: between Ta'wil and Talwin
Abu Zayd stated that objective interpretation is achieved ideological tendencies when it discusses the legitimacy of interpretation. He discusses about a "ideological" subjective interpretation, talwin, and a "objective" interpretation, ta'wil. He did not feel that ideology or subjectivism were scientific. Ideological readings of religious scriptures were frowned upon by Abu Zayd (Ichwan, 2003).
In addition, Abu Zayd connects ideology to political and pragmatic manipulation of text meaning, and compares ideology with scientific understanding. In general, He refers to biases, interests, orientations, ideological tendencies, political goals, pragmatists, and religious views with the term ideology. He likewise makes a distinction between ideology and epistemology. In contrast to ideology, epistemology deals with the level of mutual agreement, or the level of persuasion in a given culture. The debate over ta'wil and talwin is quite important. Ta'wil is a fruitful reading (qira'ah muntijah) founded on the epistemological premise of objectivity. Meanwhile, ideological, subjective, and tendentious interpretation (qiraah mughridah) on the text. To put it another way, ta'wil reading allows the text to speak for itself, but talwin reading forces the text to speak about the reader's desires. However, Abu Zayd admits that there is no such thing as "clean reading" (qiraah bari'ah), because no knowledge originates from a vacuum, and the reader's horizon reading is always limited. Abu Zayd elucidates that this does not imply that the reader imposes his pragmatic ideological goals on the text's meaning and importance (qiraah mughridhah) (Ichwan, 2003).

Importance and Meaning
Abu Zayd attempts to revisit the ancient linguistic topic of "words and meanings" or "names and those who are named," where the relationship between the two is subjective-substantial and necessary. The definition of the term, according to Abu Zayd, is the body, and the meaning of the word is the spirit. The relationship between the two is analogical, conventional or agreement, and terminological, according to Mu'tazilah (Ichwan, 2003).
The conversation then moved on to the concepts of "meaning" and "significance," which are essential in Abu Zayd's hermeneutic philosophy. Hirsch is the source of Abu Zayd's sense of meaning and significance. The text's meaning is called meaning, and the relationship between meaning and the reader is called significance. While importance is dynamic, meaning is the original contextual meaning, almost entrenched owing to its history. Abu Zayd, like Hirsch, distinguishes between the meanings conveyed by the text and the author's intended meanings (Ichwan, 2003).
In religious writings, Abu Zayd identifies three degrees of message significance. The first is the historical evidence that cannot be interpreted figuratively. Second, there is a metaphorical meaning that pertains to historical evidence. Third, the "importance" that can be revealed from the socio-cultural environment in which the text is located determines the meaning that can be expanded. At the highest level, meaning must be determined objectively in order for significance to be deduced more reliably. Meaning must not be obliterated by significance. The text determines the meaning, whereas the reader and the reading experience determine the significance. The reader's subjectivity, which is focused at objective meaning, is given space through significance (Ichwan, 2003).

Levels of context
According to Abu Zayd, there are five degrees of context in a text. The socio-cultural context is the first level, which comprises social and cultural rules, with all conventions, customs, and traditions expressed in the text's language. Language is made up of a set of collectively agreed-upon principles that are based on a cultural context. He makes his primary claim that Al-Quran is a cultural product that must be understood within this framework's socio-cultural setting.
The second level concerns the external context, specifically the dialogue expressed in a text's language structure. The relationship between the speaker and the listener is referred to as conversational context. Abu Zayd refers to this situation as the context of revelation in the framework of al-Quran hermeneutics. The internal context, which is related to the text structure's non-integrality and the multiplicity of discourse levels, is the third level. According to Abu Zayd, the text's structure is not essential. The numerous nature of Teka al-Quran makes it impossible to comprehend without considering the specific level. A reader must be aware of the discourse level he is dealing with. There are several levels of discourse, which will result in different interpretations of the text (Ichwan, 2003).
The fourth level is the linguistic context, which is related to the elements of a sentence or the correlation between sentences, and to figurative expansion. Text analysis using linguistic signs must expose the unspoken by delving into the text's cultural framework. This is because language is a manifestation of culture and a vital aspect of it. For example, the "unspeakable," in Surah Jinn, which asserts that jinn exists, is that Al-Quran employs pre-Islamic Arab cultural notions, or what Abu Zayd refers to as mental concepts.
The reading context is the sixth level-the reading procedure, which effectively breaks down the code. The act of recitation reveals the textuality of the Qur'an. Internal and external reading contexts are the two types of reading environments. Internal reading is the process of sending or receiving signals.

Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd's Recitation Method
Nasr Hamid proposed a reading paradigm he called contextual reading in order to capture the meaning of the Qur'an (al-qiraah al-siyaqiyah). On the one hand, this reading approach progresses the conventional ushul fiqh method. On the other, it is a continuation of the hard work of the nahdhah carriers, particularly Muhammad Abduh and Amin Al Khulli. The tools that ushul scholars utilized to read the text to execute istinbath are also important instruments. Only the stress makes a difference.
First, while ushul academics focus on the asbaab and nuzul aspects of the revelation to capture meaning, contextual reading considers the full socio-historical context (mujmal al-isyaq al-tarikhi alijtima'i) of the revelation. Second, if ushul scholars believe asbaab and Nuzul terminate with the aphorism al-'ibrah bi umum al-lafdhi la bi khusus al-sabab, contextual reading must go beyond these criteria. This method aims to disclose two things in a text: the "meaning" of a text concerning its historical context. On the one hand, the "importance" of that meaning in the historical-sociological context when interpretation is done. When interpreting, meaning and significance are inextricably linked because meaning is the source and significance is the aim.
Nasr Hamid proposes that interpretation is a simultaneous movement between determining meaning and intent, rather than between the two. If not, the quality of the ensuing interpretation is likely to be unproductive, tendentious, and susceptible to fall prey to interpretation ideology. If this is the case, the initial meaning and content do not match the significance because the interpreter's goals have co-opted the meaning rather than capturing the substance of meaning, which is then contextualized with modern reality. Nasr Hamid remarked that three steps must be addressed as a support for contextual application of religion, in addition to historicity and sociological difficulties that must be examined in understanding the Qur'an text (Zayd, 2000).
First, there's the revelation sequence stage. This is significant because revelation -in this case, the wording of the Qur'an -occurs in a progressive (tajrijian) manner in response to its history. According to Nasr Hamid, understanding the context of the verse sequence shows the facts of the order in which the verses were revealed and the psychological impact of the revelation process as a response to the issues of Arabic society. The revelation text storytelling contest's second stage. This stage is frequently expressed by stories or depictions of earlier people's actions, or through rejection of those who contradict, assault, or abuse the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad, whether by the Meccans or the people of the book. It is important to distinguish between writings that are viewed as sharia, exemplary, and scary to add sharia at this level is critical.
Third, there is the linguistic structure (al-tarikh al-lughawi), which is a higher level than just grammatical structure because it is necessary to pay attention to and analyze various relations such as fashl (separating) or wasl (connecting), taqdim (prioritizing) or ta'khir (terminating), and so on. However, language structure analysis is backed by nahwu or balaghah and contemporary scientific analysis such as discourse analysis or text analysis. The textuality of the Qur'an refers to one's interpretation and understanding of the Qur'an's words. Ignoring the Qur'an's textual element, according to Nasr Hamid, will result in the message's meaning becoming frozen and a mythological interpretation of the scripture. When meaning is frozen, it can be easily modified to fit a person's or reader's worldview.

Polygamy Viewed by Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd's Perpective
The verse that depicts polygamy in the Qur'an is found in the letter Al-Nisa '[4]: 3. In examining the polygamy verse above, Nasr Hamid, as reported by Moch. Nur Ichwan, divides it into three steps. First, there's the text's context. On the one hand, he contrasts the lack of legal practice of having 'in your right hand' (slave girls or prisoners of war) as 'concubines' in Islamist discourse, and on the other, he defends polygamy by saying, "Marry the women you like: two, three, or three four." According to Nasr Hamid, something is missing: understanding of religious texts' historicity that they are linguistic texts, and that language is a social and cultural product. According to Nasr Hamid, a man's right to marry up to four wives must be viewed in the perspective of human relations, particularly the connection between men and women before to the arrival of Islam. Tribal law predominated in the pre-Islamic period, and polygamy was unrestricted.
Permission to have four wives is viewed in this context as the start of an endeavor to respect women. According to Abu Zaid, this debate should be viewed as the beginning of women's liberation from male dominance. Second, consider the text as a whole. Nasr Hamid hopes that the "unspeakable" or implicit can be disclosed by doing so. If a husband is scared of not being able to act justly (towards them), the Qur'anic verse advocates having only one wife: If you are afraid that you will not be able to act justly (towards them), then only one." "You will not be able to do justice between your wives, even though you are very ready to do it," says another verse (Surah Al-Nisa '[4]: 129). The linguistic analysis of the polygamy verse concludes that being fair to the wife is impossible. The usage of conditional clauses (presuppositions) and conditional law particles (if) denotes the negative of alanswer syarth's (conditional clause conclusion) due to the negation of that condition (syarth). The use of the lan particle (never) as a coroboration (ta'yid) at the beginning of the phrase should be noted; this shows that "can act fairly" will never happen. Nasr Hamid concludes that there is a double negativity here: first, the absolute rejection of the possibility of being fair to two or more wives, and second, the negation of having a great desire to be fair to them.
Meanwhile, Nasr Hamid lays out three universal Islamic law concepts. In terms of tribal mindset and emotional activity, the first is rationality ('aqliyyah) as opposed to jahiliyyah. Second, the concept of freedom (hurriyyah), which opposes all types of servitude ('ubudiyyah). Third, fairness is the antithesis of human exploitation (zhulm). Justice is mabda' (principle) in polygamy, although having up to four wives is hukm. Hukm never becomes qa'idah, much less mabda'. Hukm is a distinct and related event that is affected by changes in the environment. When mabda' and hukm conflict, the latter must be defeated to protect the former. According to Abu Zaid, the Qur'an condemns polygamy in disguise, implying that the limitation is a covert prohibition (al-tahrim al-dhimmi).
Abu Zaid recommended a reform of Islamic law as the third step, based on the previous two. Polygamy is listed under the chapter "permissible" in traditional Islamic law (al-mubahat). According to Abu Zaid, the term "permissibility" is unsuitable since permissibility refers to things that are not treated in the text, whereas the permissibility of polygamy in the Qur'an is essentially a restriction on unlimited polygamy that existed prior to Islam. Restriction does not imply approval. Polygamy, on the other hand, is not included in the chapter "prohibition (prohibition) of permitted things" (tahrim al-mubahat). In this case, Abu Zaid contends that polygamy as a law should not jeopardize qa'idah and mabda', it is forbidden.

CONCLUSION
Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid, an Egyptian thinker, desired a new text interpretation. Text, in his opinion, is something that has meaning and must be interpreted. According to him, the meaning of the Al-Quran, which is a revelation given down by Allah in Arabic, must be sought. If you do not comprehend the Arabic linguistic system first, you will not understand Arabic as a code. Nasr Hamid strives to bring a unique viewpoint on interpreting the Qur'an text through his linguistic understanding. Nasr Hamid's reinterpretation seeks to return a verse to its original meaning and value. Nasr proposes a fresh reading of the Koran based on the Koran's textuality technique. Is a text message sent by a sender with a specific code and received by the Prophet Muhammad's intended receiver. One method of deciphering the codes intended by the sender from the so-called reader is to use interpretation. In polygamy, Abu Zayd noted that after the Quran was revealed, there were prohibitions. If you consider the culture of the people before Islam, in which they had a limitless number of women, Allah revealed the verse QS An-Nisa, which limits polygamy to four spouses on the condition that they treat all of their wives fairly. However, because being fair is something that not every spouse can achieve, monogamy is the ultimate objective.