batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l6349-l6428
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l6349-l6428
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
label: SECTION V. / OF CERTAIN NEGATIVE PRECEPTS IN THE KORN. / SECTION VI. / OF
THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE KORAN IN CIVIL AFFAIRS.; lines 6349-6428
start: '6349'
end: '6428'
translation: The Koran (Al-Qur'an)
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: 'The passage summarizes Sale''s account of Koranic civil institutions concerning
marriage and divorce: Islamic civil law is said to be grounded in the Koran, polygamy
is described as limited to four wives or concubines with monogamy advised in some
circumstances, divorce is allowed with restrictions on remarriage after a third
divorce, women have more limited grounds for separation, and divorced women must
observe a waiting period with maintenance provisions.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage states that Mohammedan civil law is founded on the precepts and
determinations of the Koran, and compares this with Jewish civil laws being founded
on the Pentateuch.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: 'The passage says that Koranic civil law is interpreted differently by civilians
and especially by four great doctors: Abu Hanfa, Malec, al Shafe, and Ebn Hanbal.'
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The passage states that polygamy is allowed by the Koran but with limitations.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The passage states that no man can have more than four wives or concubines,
and that marrying one only is advised if inconvenience is feared from multiple
wives.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The passage says Mohammed's limitation of plural wives was directed by the
decision of Jewish doctors, who counsel limiting wives to four.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The passage states that divorce is allowed by Mohammedan law, as it was by
Mosaic law, while noting differences in the rules on remarriage.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The passage states that after a third divorce a man may not take back his
former wife until she has been married and bedded by another husband and divorced
by him.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The passage states that men may repudiate wives on slight grounds, while women
may separate only for specified causes such as ill-usage, lack of maintenance,
neglect of conjugal duty, impotency, or comparable causes.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: The passage states that a divorced woman must wait three courses, or three
months in certain cases, before remarrying; if pregnant, she must wait until delivery.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: The passage states that during the waiting term the divorced woman may remain
in the husband's house and is to be maintained at his expense, unless she is guilty
of dishonesty.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: The Koran
description: The religious text presented as the foundation for Mohammedan civil
law and as containing precepts on marriage and divorce.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:9
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Mohammed
description: Named as the one who allowed or ordained specific limits and rules
for followers, with special privileges noted elsewhere by the passage.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Mohammedan civilians and four great doctors
description: Legal interpreters named collectively, including Abu Hanfa, Malec,
al Shafe, and Ebn Hanbal.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Jewish doctors
description: Legal authorities whose counsel is said to have limited the number
of wives to four.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Man or husband
description: A male spouse discussed in rules about polygamy, divorce, repudiation,
maintenance, and taking back a divorced wife.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Wife or divorced woman
description: A female spouse discussed in rules about marriage, divorce, grounds
for separation, dowry, waiting periods, pregnancy, residence, and maintenance.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Second husband
description: The man whom a woman must marry and be divorced by before her first
husband may take her back after a third divorce.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Mosaic law or Jewish civil law
description: The comparative legal tradition mentioned as grounded in the Pentateuch
and as also permitting divorce under different conditions.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: scriptural legal foundation
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:8
basis: The passage says Mohammedan civil law is founded on the Koran as Jewish civil
law was founded on the Pentateuch.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: prophetic legislator in the passage account
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage attributes the limitation of plural wives and the third-divorce
remarriage rule to Mohammed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: legal interpreter or authority
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:4
basis: The passage names Muslim legal doctors as interpreters and says Jewish doctors
counseled a four-wife limit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: regulated husband
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The passage describes what a man may do regarding marriage, polygamy, divorce,
remarriage, and maintenance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:5
label: regulated wife or divorcee
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The passage describes a wife's limited grounds for separation and a divorced
woman's waiting period and maintenance.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:6
label: intervening spouse
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The second husband is part of the stated condition before a first husband
may take back a wife after a third divorce.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols: []
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Summary introduction to Koranic civil institutions
summary: The passage introduces Mohammedan civil law as grounded in the Koran and
mediated by legal interpretation, especially by four named doctors.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:8
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Limits on plural marriage
summary: The passage explains that polygamy is allowed but limited to four wives
or concubines, with one wife advised if inconvenience is feared, and compares
the limit with Jewish doctors' counsel.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Restriction on remarriage after repeated divorce
summary: The passage describes divorce as allowed and states that after a third
divorce a man may not resume marriage to the same woman until she has married,
been bedded by, and been divorced by another husband.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:4
label: Gendered separation rules and waiting period
summary: The passage states that husbands may repudiate wives on slight grounds,
wives may separate only for specified serious causes, and divorced women must
observe a waiting period with residence and maintenance provisions.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Scripture as foundation of civil law
taxonomy_refs:
- covenant
basis: The passage presents civil law as grounded in religious scripture and explicitly
compares Koranic and Pentateuchal foundations for civil law.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage is legal-historical exposition rather than narrative myth;
the covenant taxonomy reference is approximate and should be reviewed.
- id: motif:2
label: Religiously regulated marriage and divorce
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_marriage
basis: The passage treats marriage, polygamy, divorce, remarriage, waiting periods,
and maintenance as governed by Koranic precepts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a legal pattern rather than a mythic sacred-marriage narrative;
taxonomy fit is uncertain.
- id: motif:3
label: Threshold condition before restoration of marriage
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage describes a sequence in which a third divorce bars reunion until
the woman has married and been divorced by another husband.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: No broader mythological taxonomy is asserted.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares Mohammedan civil law founded on the Koran
with Jewish civil law founded on the Pentateuch as analogous scriptural bases
for civil institutions.
claim_level: same_function
target: Jewish civil law and the Pentateuch
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is made by the translator/commentator in a legal exposition,
not by a narrative episode in the Koranic text.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage explicitly compares divorce in Mohammedan law with divorce in
Mosaic law, noting that both allow divorce but differ in remarriage rules.
claim_level: same_function
target: Mosaic divorce law
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The claim concerns legal function and stated differences; it does not
establish shared origin beyond what the passage says.
- id: claim:3
claim: The passage states that Mohammed's four-wife limitation was directed by the
decision of Jewish doctors, who advised limiting wives to four.
claim_level: historical_contact
target: Jewish legal doctors' counsel on limiting wives to four
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: This is reported by the passage's commentator; no independent evidence
is supplied in the excerpt.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 6349-6355
quote_or_summary: Mohammedan civil law is said to be founded on the Koran, as Jewish
civil laws were founded on the Pentateuch.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 6352-6356
quote_or_summary: 'The passage says interpretation varies according to civilians
and especially four great doctors: Abu Hanfa, Malec, al Shafe, and Ebn Hanbal.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 6358-6362
quote_or_summary: The passage states that polygamy is allowed by the Koran but rejects
the idea that it grants an unbounded plurality.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 6362-6371
quote_or_summary: The passage says no man may have more than four wives or concubines,
and advises one wife if inconvenience is feared from even that number.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 6390-6394
quote_or_summary: The passage states that Mohammed's limitation was directed by
Jewish doctors, who by counsel limit wives to four though their law fixes no certain
number.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 6395-6400
quote_or_summary: Divorce is said to be allowed by Mohammedan law as by Mosaic law,
with a difference regarding taking back a woman who had been married or betrothed
to another.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 6400-6408
quote_or_summary: The passage says Mohammed ordained that after a third divorce
a man could not take his wife again until she had been married and bedded by another
husband and divorced by him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 6412-6419
quote_or_summary: The passage states that men may repudiate wives on slight disgust,
while women may separate only for serious causes such as ill-usage, lack of maintenance,
neglect of conjugal duty, or impotency, and may lose dowry.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 6420-6428
quote_or_summary: A divorced woman must wait three courses or three months before
remarrying; if pregnant she waits until delivery, and during the waiting term
may remain in the husband's house and receive maintenance unless guilty of dishonesty.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Legal observations and comparisons are explicit in the passage. Motif taxonomy
assignments are less certain because the excerpt is civil-law exposition rather
than mythic narrative.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No concrete symbols from the supplied symbol taxonomy appear in this passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l6349-l6428
passage_sha256=a6bf4738456d0a64b319a1b4d1c6253a16358891c7194ebbb86c8cefa4510110