The Sensory Function of the Skin in Scientific Qur’anic Exegesis of   al-Nisāʾ [4]:56

Mawaddah Mawaddah; Nur Raihan

doi:10.22373/quranicum.v3i1.10385

Authors

Mawaddah Mawaddah Institut Agama Islam Negeri Langsa, Indonesia
Nur Raihan Institut Agama Islam Negeri Langsa, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22373/quranicum.v3i1.10385

Keywords:

Cutaneous nociception, Scientific qur’anic exegesis, Skin sensation, Full-thickness burn injury, Q. al-Nisāʾ [4]:56

Abstract

Q. al-Nisāʾ [4]:56 describes the repeated replacement of burned skin so that punishment continues to be experienced. This article examines how selected exegetes interpret the relationship between skin replacement and bodily suffering and assesses the extent to which medical knowledge can illuminate this relationship without reducing the verse to a scientific proposition. Using qualitative library research and interpretive document analysis, the study analyzes the verse and selected works by Ibn Kathir, Tantawi Jawhari, Wahbah al-Zuhayli, and M. Quraish Shihab, together with peer-reviewed medical literature on skin anatomy, cutaneous nociception, pain processing, and full-thickness burn injury. The findings show that the selected exegetes understand skin replacement primarily within the theological framework of divine justice and the continuity of eschatological punishment, while modern interpreters also relate it to the sensory function of the skin. Medical evidence indicates that nociceptive free nerve endings in the skin detect potentially damaging stimuli and transmit signals to the central nervous system. Pain, however, is not located exclusively in the skin but arises from the interaction of peripheral nociception and central neural processing. Full-thickness burns may reduce sensation when cutaneous nerves are destroyed, but such injuries are not necessarily painless because adjacent or partially damaged tissue may remain responsive. These findings support a limited interpretive correspondence, rather than scientific proof, between the verse and medical knowledge. Within the limits of this case, tafsīr ʿilmī remains methodologically defensible when textual meaning and empirical explanation are placed in dialogue while remaining analytically distinct.

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