Beyond Domestication: Reconstructing the Meaning of Q.S. Al-Ahzab 33 through the Ma’na-cum-Maghza Approach

Abstract

The interpretation of Q.S. Al-Ahzab 33, particularly the phrase waqarna fī buyūtikunna, has frequently been associated with women’s domestication and restrictions on their public participation. Although previous studies have challenged absolute interpretations of women’s confinement, the discussion largely remains focused on whether women are permitted to work or enter the public sphere. This study aims to reconstruct the meaning and significance of Q.S. Al-Ahzab 33 through the ma’na-cum-maghza approach and examine its implications for women’s agency and gender justice. Employing a qualitative textual-hermeneutical design, this study uses library research, with Q.S. Al-Ahzab 32–34 as primary data and classical and contemporary Qur’anic commentaries and relevant gender studies as secondary sources. Data were analyzed through the reconstruction of historical meaning (al-ma‘na al-tarikhī), historical significance (al-maghza al-tarikhī), and dynamic significance (al-maghza al-mutaharrik), supported by source triangulation. The findings show that waqarna fī buyūtikunna is historically situated within the specific context of the Prophet’s wives and should not be universalized as permanent physical confinement for Muslim women. Its enduring ethical significance concerns dignity, propriety, moral integrity, and responsible conduct. These values can be contextualized within contemporary women’s education, employment, leadership, and public participation through the principle of ethical agency. The study’s novelty lies in shifting the interpretive paradigm from spatial domestication to ethical agency, positioning domestication as a historical form rather than the ultimate maghza of the verse. This reconstruction contributes to a Qur’anic framework of gender justice that recognizes women’s public agency while maintaining ethical and domestic responsibilities.