This axis brings together 1 instance of the use of this verse in the works of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
Give the relative his due, and the needy and the wayfarer, and do not squander wastefully. Indeed, the squanderers are brothers of the devils, and Satan has always been ungrateful to his Lord.
Reader’s Answer
Question
Where do these two verses occur, how does Shahrur distinguish between squandering and excess, and what function do they serve in his argument?
The two verses occur in Surat al-Isra (26–27). Shahrur characterizes squandering as exceeding the proper measure within the sphere of what is lawful, whereas he characterizes excess as crossing the boundary between what is lawful and what is forbidden; he uses the two verses to establish this distinction and to deny that the two terms are synonymous.
Shahrur cites al-Isra 26–27 as the Qur’anic passage in which the term “squandering” occurs twice in a single context. He distinguishes between squandering, as exceeding the proper measure within the sphere of what is lawful, and excess, as transgressing the boundary between what is lawful and what is forbidden. Shahrur employs this distinction to argue that squandering and excess are not synonymous, because each operates, in his view, within a different sphere.
Citation and Location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 155.
Limits of the Reading
- This presentation conveys Shahrur’s distinction as it appears in the cited passage; this passage alone does not establish the detailed grounds of his definition of excess or discuss that definition.
- The cited passage does not offer an independent ruling on the meaning of every other Qur’anic use of excess or squandering.
- The two verses command giving the relative, the needy, and the wayfarer their due, and prohibit squandering; the construction of a terminological distinction between squandering and excess, however, is Shahrur’s formulation in the cited passage.
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Brief Reading
The verse establishes a distinction between squandering and excess, making the former an exceeding of the proper measure within what is lawful rather than an entry into what is forbidden.
Axes
- Legislative
- Human and Ethical
Related Concepts
- Squandering: 2
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It is connected to the limits of financial conduct within the ethical and legislative framework.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Foundational: 1
Atlas Pages That Refer to This Verse
These links collect the pages that rely on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.
Related Atoms
Instances of Use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 155: He uses it to establish a distinction between squandering and excess, making the former an exceeding of the proper measure within what is lawful rather than an occurrence within what is forbidden.
- Concept: Squandering
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual citation: “Squandering occurs in the Wise Revelation twice in a single context… Then: as for exceeding the proper measure in the sphere of what is lawful without crossing the boundary separating it from what is forbidden, that is squandering.”
- Corresponding traditional reading: He responds to those who equate squandering with excess, including Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, as he reports from him.
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for constructing the atlas.