Āl ʿImrān 169

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This axis brings together 5 instances of this verse’s use in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

Text of the Verse as Cited

Do not suppose that those who have been killed in the way of God are dead; rather, they are alive with their Lord, provided for.

Reader’s Answer

The Question

Does Āl ʿImrān 169 make one killed in the way of God a “martyr” according to Muhammad Shahrur?

No. Shahrur uses the verse to discuss those who were killed in the way of God and their life “with their Lord,” but he separates this from the terms “martyrdom” and “martyrs.”

Shahrur explicitly states that the verse, “Do not suppose that those who have been killed in the way of God are dead,” is not, in his reading, concerned with martyrdom or martyrs. He grounds this use in his definition of the “martyr” as one present at an event who hears and sees it; accordingly, he considers the “martyrs of Badr” to be all those who were present at Badr—both those killed and those who remained alive—not only the dead.

Source and Location

A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation — p. 67.

Limits of the Reading

  • This page concerns Shahrur’s reading, not a statement of the verse’s exegetically agreed meaning.
  • The citation establishes his explicit separation between the verse and the term “martyrs,” but the excerpt does not offer a detailed discussion of other Islamic readings.
  • His general definition of the “martyr” should not be turned into a claim that the verse denies the merit of those killed or their life with their Lord; this meaning is affirmed in the text of the verse itself.

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Brief Reading

In Shahrur’s work, the verse appears in his critique of linking martyrs to those killed in combat, and in reopening the meaning of martyrdom in the context of faith.

Axes

  • Narrative and historical
  • Faith-related
  • Methodological
  • Martyrs: 3
  • Martyrs and those killed: 2
  • Critique of interpretation: 2
  • Martyrdom: 2

Its Place in the Network of Concepts

It is connected to correcting inherited interpretations of the concept of martyrs.

The Verse’s Role in the Argument

  • Critique of tradition: 4
  • Support: 1

Summary of Its Presence in the Atlas

  • Critique of linking martyrs to those killed
  • Connected to correcting interpretation
  • Appears in refuting the common reading

Instances of Use

  • Islam and Faith, p. 168: He cites it and then rejects linking it to those killed in the way of God, stating that this link is absent from the Wise Revelation and arose instead from a later convention.
    • Concept: Martyrs and those killed
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
    • Textual citation: “Some may be troubled by the following question: where, then, are the war dead of whom He, exalted be He, said: {Do not suppose that those who have been killed in the way of God are dead; rather, they are alive…} (Āl ʿImrān 169)? Are they not the martyrs?”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: The martyr is one killed in the way of God
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 322: He makes it evidence that martyrs are alive with their Lord immediately after death and that their provision with God is material/actual.
    • Concept: Martyrs
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “Thus He said of the martyrs: {Do not suppose that those who have been killed in the way of God are dead; rather, they are alive with their Lord, provided for} (Āl ʿImrān 169)…”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 75: He uses it as an example of how the exegetical tradition restricted martyrdom to those martyred in combat and read the verse within the framework of those killed at Badr, Uḥud, or Biʾr Maʿūna.
    • Concept: Martyrs
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
    • Textual citation: “The interpretation of Āl ʿImrān 169 … ‘When God recounted the statement of the hypocrites regarding those killed, the martyrs … He then mentioned what God has prepared for the martyrs.’”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: Restricting it to the martyrs of Badr, Uḥud, or Biʾr Maʿūna
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 295: He denies that the verse is evidence for the meaning of martyrdom or martyrs, considering the link made between it and them to be a widespread misconception.
    • Concept: Critique of interpretation
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
    • Textual citation: “His saying—exalted be He—{Do not suppose that those who have been killed in the way of God are dead …} (Āl ʿImrān 169) has absolutely no connection to martyrdom or martyrs, as many mistakenly suppose.”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: Linking the verse to martyrdom or martyrs
  • A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 67: He denies its connection to the common concept of martyrs, departing from the prevailing reading.
    • Concept: Martyrdom
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
    • Textual citation: “His saying, exalted be He: {Do not suppose that those who have been killed in the way of God are dead …} (Āl ʿImrān 169) has absolutely no connection to martyrdom or martyrs, as many mistakenly suppose.”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: Many mistakenly suppose that the verse concerns martyrdom and martyrs

This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas