This axis brings together 3 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The Text of the Verse as Cited
He said, “Defilement and wrath from your Lord have fallen upon you. Do you dispute with me concerning names which you and your forefathers have named, for which Allah has sent down no authority? Then wait; indeed, I am with you among those who wait.”
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Almighty’s saying, “Do you dispute with me concerning names which you and your forefathers have named, for which Allah has sent down no authority?” in his discussion of the polytheism of the people of Hud?
Shahrur employs the verse, in his reading of the history of polytheism, as evidence that the people of Hud knew a plurality of deities associated with a multiplicity of specializations and domains. He cites examples such as a god of good, a god of evil, a god of fertility, and a god of rain. He links this to the verse’s expression concerning “names” that the people and their forefathers named without any authority sent down by God—not as merely similar terms, but because this is the verse he explicitly cites to support this conception.
Shahrur reads the verse as evidence for the emergence, in Hud’s time, of a plurality of divine domains, such as assigning deities to good, evil, fertility, and rain. In Shahrur’s comparative construction, he regards this stage as more advanced than the people of Noah, whom he describes as worshipping natural phenomena. This is a historical and interpretive ordering particular to him, not an independent conclusion made available by the verse alone.
Citation and Location
Qur’anic Narratives, vol. 2 — p. 52.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation establishes that Shahrur cited the verse in support of the idea of multiple domains among the deities of the people of Hud, but it does not provide an independent account of the names or functions of those deities in this verse.
- The claim that every form of polytheism rests exclusively on “human names” goes beyond the indication of the available citation; the accompanying text concerns the context of the people of Hud and a stage in Shahrur’s conception of the development of polytheism.
- The citation from the Book and the Qur’an, p. 278, is not linked to the verse, because it does not address the verse or a claim connected to it in the excerpt provided.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
The verse is read as an example of disputation over names and plurality, and of polytheism as resting on human designations that have no authority.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Linguistic and semantic
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- Plurality of deities: 3
- Disputation: 2
- Names: 1
- polytheism: 1
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to the dismantling of the plurality of deities into a plurality of names and domains without a divine basis.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Critique of tradition: 1
- Support: 1
- Example: 1
Instances of Use
- State and Society, p. 183: He cites it to say that the names of the deities among the people of Hud were merely human designations without divine authority, within the framework of the development of polytheism.
- Concept: plurality of deities
- Function of the verse here: critique of tradition
- Textual citation: “The evidence for this is the Almighty’s saying concerning Hud: {He said, ‘Defilement and wrath from your Lord have fallen upon you …’} (Al-A’raf 71).”
- Qur’anic Narratives, vol. 2, p. 52: He adduces it as evidence that the plurality of deities among the people of Hud was a plurality of names and domains for which there was no authority from God.
- Concept: plurality of deities
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “The evidence is the Almighty’s saying concerning Hud: {He said, ‘Defilement and wrath from your Lord have fallen upon you. Do you dispute concerning names which you have named …’} (Al-A’raf 71).”
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 278: He makes it evidence of disputation over the question of names and plurality as opposed to unity.
- Concept: disputation
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual citation: “- {Do you dispute concerning names which you and your forefathers have named …} (Al-A’raf 71).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.