This axis brings together 1 instance of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

Text of the verse as cited

And those who commit evil deeds, then repent thereafter and believe—indeed, your Lord thereafter is surely Forgiving, Merciful.

Reader’s Answer

Question

How does Muhammad Shahrur employ God’s saying, “then repent thereafter and believe,” to explain the meaning of “after”?

Shahrur employs the verse as evidence that “after” is a temporal adverb indicating that what follows it occurs later than what precedes it. In the structure of the verse, repentance and faith come after committing evil deeds, while forgiveness and mercy come after this stated course.

Shahrur considers “after” in the verse to be an adverb indicating time, whether it occurs in the accusative, genitive, or nominative in the Qur’anic usages he discusses.

Evidence and location

Qur’anic Stories, Vol. 2 — p. 128.

Limits of the reading

  • The cited evidence establishes Shahrur’s use of the verse to affirm the temporal adverbial function of “after,” but it does not provide the remainder of his argument following the phrase “The question now is.”
  • The mere ordering of the verse’s words should not be turned into an additional claim concerning the rulings on repentance or its details unless independent evidence is provided.
  • The presence of “then” in the verse reinforces the sequence in the text of the verse, but the cited evidence focuses specifically on the word “after” as a temporal adverb.

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Brief reading

He cites it to confirm that “min ba‘d” (“after”) indicates a subsequent sequence between sins and then repentance and faith.

Axes

  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Faith-related
  • Posteriority: 2
  • Min ba‘d: 1
  • Sins: 1
  • Repentance: 1
  • Faith: 1

Its place in the conceptual network

It serves to clarify temporal relations in the Qur’anic text.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Example: 1

Instances of use

  • Qur’anic Stories, Vol. 2, p. 128: He cites it to confirm that “min ba‘d” (“after”) indicates a subsequent sequence between sins and then repentance and faith.
    • Concept: Posteriority
    • Function of the verse here: Example
    • Textual evidence: “Or in the genitive with a preposition, as in His saying, Exalted is He: {And those who commit evil deeds, then repent thereafter…} (Al-A‘raf: 153)”

This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.