Al-A'raf 33

5 min read

This axis brings together 5 instances 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

Say, “My Lord has only forbidden indecencies … sin and transgression without right …”

Reader’s Answer

Question

Where does Shahrur cite Al-A’raf 33, what distinction does he draw from it, and what function does it serve in his argument?

Shahrur cites the verse in A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation (p. 18) in his discussion of speaking about God. In his explanation, he takes this to prohibit adding prohibitions to those forbidden by God or permitting what He has forbidden. Its function in his argument is to delimit the domain of prohibition and ijtihad, rather than to establish a meaning based on what is left unstated.

Shahrur relies on Al-A’raf 33 to establish that speaking about God is forbidden, and he interprets such speech as including the addition of prohibitions to God’s prohibitions or the permitting of one of His prohibitions. He connects this delimitation to his statement that human ijtihad operates in detailing the fourteen prohibitions and in restricting what is permissible.

Citation and Location

A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation — p. 18.

Limits of the Reading

  • The citation does not establish that the verse itself enumerates the fourteen prohibitions or that it is the detailed source of this number.
  • The citation does not support the claim that the meaning in the verse rests on textual arrangement or on what is understood from what is left unstated.
  • The citation does not establish an independent terminological distinction among the terms of the verse, apart from his practical interpretation of the phrase “speaking about God” in the context of prohibition.
  • The description of indecencies in the citation pertains to Shahrur’s explanation of them, but it is not by itself sufficient to construct a comprehensive map of the verse’s axes.

Continue from Here

Brief Reading

The verse is made a basis for enumerating prohibitions, and is also used to show that meaning rests on textual arrangement and on what is understood from what is left unstated.

Axes

  • Legislative
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • What is left unstated: 3
  • Prohibition: 2
  • Prohibitions: 2
  • Prohibitions: 2

Its Place in the Network of Concepts

It is connected to a reading of prohibition as a semantic structure rather than merely isolated words.

The Verse’s Role in the Argument

  • Foundational: 2
  • Example: 2
  • Support: 1

Summary of Its Presence in the Atlas

  • Enumeration of prohibitions
  • What is left unstated in textual arrangement
  • Its presence in the structure of prohibition

Atlas Pages That Refer to This Verse

These links gather the pages that rely on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.

Instances of Use

  • Islam and the Human Being: He makes it the basis for enumerating the fourteen prohibitions, including associating partners with God, transgression, sin, and speaking falsely about God.
    • Concept: prohibition
    • Function of the verse here: foundational
    • Textual citation: “{ Say, ‘My Lord has only forbidden indecencies … sin and transgression without right …’ } (Al-A’raf 33)”
  • The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought, p. 32: He adduces it to show that theft falls under transgression and the assault on people’s rights that is forbidden.
    • Concept: prohibitions
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual citation: “This is why He forbids theft, as in His saying—Exalted is He—: { Say, ‘My Lord has only forbidden indecencies …’ } (Al-A’raf 33)”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 254: He uses it as an example that meaning is not understood from wording alone, but from textual arrangement and from what the unstated requires in context.
    • Concept: what is left unstated
    • Function of the verse here: example
    • Textual citation: “When we read His saying—Exalted is He—: { ‘… sin and transgression without right’ } (Al-A’raf 33), we necessarily understand implicitly that there is sin and transgression with right.”
  • A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 18: He uses it as a linguistic example of how the Qur’anic textual arrangement makes what is left unstated intelligible—that is, the existence of a counterpart not verbally mentioned.
    • Concept: what is left unstated
    • Function of the verse here: example
    • Textual citation: “{ ‘… sin and transgression without right’ } (Al-A’raf 33)”
  • A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 47: He sets it as a basis for restricting divine prohibition to indecencies, sin, transgression, associating partners with God, and speaking about God without knowledge.
    • Concept: prohibitions
    • Function of the verse here: foundational
    • Textual citation: “His saying, Exalted is He: { Say, ‘My Lord has only forbidden indecencies … and that you say about God what you do not know’ } (Al-A’raf 33)”

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

Graph View

Backlinks3

Muhammad Shahrur Atlas