This node brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The verse text as cited
Say, “Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful; whichever you call upon, to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. And do not recite your prayer too loudly or too quietly, but seek a way between them.”
Reader’s answer
Question
Where is Qur’an 17:110 located, how does Shahrur distinguish in it between salat as a connection and supplication and ṣalawh as a ritual, and what function does it serve in his argument?
The verse occurs in Surat al-Isra’ (110). Shahrur reads it as evidence that “salat” here means connection with God through supplication, rather than the ritual; he uses it to contrast this meaning with the passage in al-Tawbah, where “ṣalawh” is considered a ritual with specified acts.
Shahrur regards “salat” in Qur’an 17:110 as connection with God in the sense of supplication, in light of the command to supplicate in the verse. He employs Qur’an 17:110 in distinguishing between “salat” as connection and supplication and “ṣalawh” as a ritual that includes the takbir, recitation, bowing, prostration, and glorification, while maintaining that the verb forms and plural forms are identical in usage.
Citation and location
Islam and Faith — p. 256.
Limits of the reading
- The citation does not establish that the “supreme name” is present in the verse; rather, it mentions the Most Beautiful Names.
- The citation does not provide an independent, detailed account of the meaning of the prohibition against loudness and quietness, or of the “way” between them.
- The distinction presented here is Shahrur’s distinction in this passage and does not, on the basis of this citation alone, establish a comprehensive rule for every occurrence of the two terms.
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Brief reading
The verse is read as meaning that salat here is connection and supplication, with the supreme name present in its signification.
Axes
- Faith-related
- Linguistic and semantic
Related concepts
- Supplication: 2
- The supreme name: 2
Its place in the conceptual network
It links the meaning of supplication with the conception of the supreme name in the structure of faith.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Example: 1
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- Islam and Faith, p. 256: He cites it as evidence that salat here is connection with God and supplication, because the context is one of supplication rather than ritual.
- Concept: supplication
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual citation: “- {Say, ‘Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful … and do not recite your prayer too loudly …’} (Al-Isra’ 110).”
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 35: He relies on it to argue that “the Most Merciful” encompasses opposites and predominates over the remaining names in his conception.
- Concept: the supreme name
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “{Say, ‘Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful …’} (Al-Isra’ 110)”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.