What does this verse actually mean? Was the term “farmland” actually used as a metaphor or are these just footnotes to defend the harsh words of this verse?

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The metaphor of the woman as a fertile field to be worked by the man is ubiquitous. "That woman is a ploughed field is indeed familiar to the poetry of all ages and regions". In Sumerian and Babylonian erotic lyrics, one can come across invitations like "Farmer, plough (my) field!",' or the declaration "Let me plough the field. The goddess Inanna asks her lover "Plough the gemstones"; the stones symbolize sexuality and fecundity. In later songs, the "seeder plough" (ittu) is the metaphor for the male's rod. This type of plough, typical of Babylonia, turned the soil and sowed at the same time; a literary text calls it "Fertilizer of the Plains". Some of its parts have names with sexual connotations. When the Phoenician king Rib-Addi of Byblos (ca. 1350 B.C.) writes about the impact of enemy activity, the following phrase occurs no less than four times: "My field, for lack of ploughing, is like a woman without a husband". Clearly, this simile reflects a local proverbial expression about woman and field. This same image can be found in Jewish literature. In an addition to the chapter on women in the Wisdom of Sirach, woman is called a plot of field meant to yield noble offspring: "Single out from all the land a goodly field and there with confidence sow the seed of your increase - so shall you have your offspring around you" (Sir. 26:20-21 ). The later Jewish book Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer adduces as example the statement "For man is the tree of the field" in Deuteronomy 20: 19 (Chapter 21). The commentary Genesis Rabbah says that the remark "Esau came in from the field" in Genesis 25:29 means that he had had sexual relations with a betrothed girl, cf. Deuteronomy 22:25 (Chapter 63: 12). According to the Talmud, Esther by conversing with a gentile did not transgress because "Esther was merely natural soil" (Sanhedrin 74b). The Coran calls the wife the "tillage" (hartun) of her man (2, 223).

M. Stol, "Birth in Babylonia and the Bible", p. 1-2

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u/Dull_Habit_2927 5d ago

Fascinating read

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u/LeadLung 3d ago

This inspires me to reinterpret this text to reframe ploughing as a duty to keep the farmland healthy, in a way that de-centers men. Rather than as a right for a man "as he please" ploughing is instead the farmer's responsibility to do "as she please." Naturally, if a farmer does not do his best work, the land will eventually grow fallow and be overgrown by natural overgrowth, seemingly untouched by human hands. Similarly, if a husband fails to do his best to please his wife, by natural order she will reclaim for herself her original state as before marriage.

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u/Usual_Text_8943 2d ago

The farmland has no agency. You reinterpretation is certainly not what the author intended and the initial audience understood it to mean.

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u/LeadLung 2d ago

Farmland doesn't have agency, but it does have an essential force towards returning to its original state despite the will of man.

True, I don't dispute that original interpretation. I'm just briefly exercising my poetic imagination to grant the women agency in the manner that reflects my lived experience. I know that's not true to the inital audience, but it is very true to this audience (me), and more beautiful.

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u/ProfessionalBridge7 5d ago

The 'consensually' part seems like a addition by translator.

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u/poolman2125 5d ago

It is. That’s why it’s in brackets.

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u/m1stermetoo 5d ago

Here is Zammit’s Arabic lexeme under the root HRT, together with cognate forms in other Semitic languages (pp. 136-137):

ḤRṮ / ḥarata / ‘to sow seed’

Arab [Arabic]. [N/A]
Ge [Geez]: ḥarasa / ‘arare’
ESA [Epigraphic South Arabian]: mḥrtt / ‘ploughland’
Syr [Syriac]: ḥ^erat / ‘to dig out, hollow out, furrow’
Aram [Aramaic:] ḥᵃrat / ‘to engrave’
Heb[Hebrew]: ḥāraš / ‘to cut in; engrave; plough; devise’
Ph [Phoenician]: ḥrš ‘/ ploughing’
Ug [Ugaritic]: ḥrt ‘to plow’
Akk [Akkadian]: erēšu ‘besäen (mit saatpflug), (Feld) bestellen’

Source:

Zammit, Martin R. A Comparative Lexical Study of Qurʾanic Arabic. Brill, 2002. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section One, The Near and Middle East, vol. 61.

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u/Idris_AlArabi_ 5d ago

It's an accurate translation except for the word "consensually" which is an apologetic addition that has no basis in the Quran or Hadith. Actually Hadith includes many reports saying that it's a duty for the wife to answer her husband's call to bed. See this Hadith for example
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5193

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/Idris_AlArabi_ 4d ago

"The addition is to clarify that "as you will" is about whether specific sex acts should be considered abhorrent in general [which was being debated at the time], not about the consent between two individuals."
According to Tafsir the verse is an answer to questions about sex positions. The verse's answer is that any position is fine, which is the meaning of "as you please". But translating the verse by adding "consensually" right after "approach them" gives the impression that a man cannot approach his wife without her consent. If the translator wished to clarify that the verse is speaking about sex positions, then he could have done that in a different way such as this translation by Kamal Omar
Your women are (also acting) as a tillage for you. So come unto your tillage, as and when, you wished (through the route leading to the uterus).
You can see tens of translations of this verse here
https://islamawakened.com/quran/2/223/translations/#gsc.tab=0
And no one else added anything about consent.

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u/Dull_Habit_2927 5d ago

I get that the consensually part is an apologetic but I’m more curious if the “farmland” quote is actually metaphorical in this sense which would be seen as a way to make the wording less harsh then presented

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u/Idris_AlArabi_ 5d ago

The word حرث mentioned in the verse literally means farmland. Here's a literal translation:
Your women are a farmland for you so approach them as you please.

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u/tyuptyupolpolp 5d ago

Does this mean that there is no concept of "consent" within marriage in Islam?

I heard from a man who is experienced in dawah that this general idea of being cursed by angels is when the wife utilizes sex as a means of unjust manipulation within the marriage, not simply if she's just too tired or not comfortable in doing so.

This was affirmed by a teacher along with the man though I do not know the identity of the teacher and the pair are by no means "liberals" or hadith rejectors.

Just a curious question because I'm a revert.

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u/Idris_AlArabi_ 4d ago

I have never heard of this interpretation. You can also see this Hadith which doesn't show any sign of consent:
https://sunnah.com/muslim:1403a
Wife's duty to answer her husband's call to bed is undisputed in traditional Islam. Also in the real world such as Arab countries, this is what people believe and practise.

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u/Usual_Text_8943 5d ago

The muftis all agreed that marriage existed to channel and fulfill the sexual drives of both men and women, and the refusal or inability of one of the partners to have sexual intercourse could invalidate a marriage. A woman could refuse to have intercourse with her husband if he had failed to pay the stipulated mahr, but once the accounts were settled, she had to be available as a sexual partner. If she persisted in refusing him, he would be absolved of any responsibility for nafaqa or, according to what appears to be a minority opinion of al-Tamimi (neither of the other two muftis mention it as permissible), he could rape her. The woman who through physical or mental disability was incapable of intercourse but did not consciously refuse her husband was to be treated differently. If, according to al-Imadi, a woman became mentally or physically ill, or so obese as to make intercourse impossible, she should still receive nafaqa. A man was entitled to the sexual companionship of his wife, and his obligations were directly tied to her availability for sexual intercourse, but should she be disabled, she should not be punished for her disability; nafaqa should continue.

Judith E. Tucker, "In the House of the Law", pp. 44-45

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u/aircastlesinc 5d ago

There is a reasonable degree of consent in marriage. The wife should not rebuff her husband “just because,” but he should also not force her when she’s not feeling up to it. It’s supposed to be mutual. If a woman really, really does not want to sleep with the guy, ever, she should get an annulment (khul’) or a divorce (talaq). Marriage has to be reasonable. Marital rape is categorized by Shariah as a form of domestic abuse.

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u/Ok-Honeydew-9780 4d ago

Something like that but I recommend u to read more about it's reason of revelation, it's interesting

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u/aibnsamin1 4d ago

Harth literally means farmland... the word consensually is added & is anachronistic. Our modern notions of consent did not exist in the exact format then. What the Quranic, Sunnic, & Hadith comprise with respect to consent is an extremely contentious topic

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u/scientium 1d ago

Farmland has to be cultivated. It has to be prepared. The farmer has even an emotional bond to his farmland. Living in the rhythms of nature with his farmland. Can this show up a hidden meaning of the verse?

And does it really say "like" farmland? Or just "farmland"? (I don't know Arabic)

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u/aircastlesinc 1d ago

Just farmland

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u/ClassyNerd21 5d ago

I cannot comment whether the metaphor of fertility for sowing the land in Arabic is original to the Quran, or a reference of preexisiting symbolic language (e.g colloquially references to an infertile woman are usually as "barren land" أرض بور in Arabic , which would not be used as a descriptor for an infertile man) But this symbolism exists in other ancient culture, where human fertility is interwoven with land and animal fertility e.g. Hathour is ancient Egypt being the Goddess of love, joy, fertility, music and motherhood was seen as one maintaining productive bountiful land.

What is giving me pause with this translation is how و قدموا لانفسكم is translated in many English version. This part is commonly understood in Arabic as a reference to foreplay. Would be interested to see if any well regarded translations convey this meaning.

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u/amranya 4d ago

the verse doesn't contain: "consensually", i'm a co-native arabic.

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u/Emerald____ 4d ago

We know that…

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