This axis brings together 1 locus where this verse is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the verse as cited
And when they are told, “Follow what God has sent down,” they say, “Rather, we follow what we found our forefathers following.” Even if their forefathers understood nothing and were not guided?
Reader’s response
Question
Where does Shahrur cite the verse, what distinction does he draw from it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
Shahrur cites the verse in The State and Society (p. 18), in the course of his discussion of a phenomenon he calls “the ailment of paternal familiarity.” Along with Qur’an 43:22, he treats it as evidence of an ailment that is not confined to the Arab polytheists but may afflict both believing and non-believing nations. Its function in the linked passage is to diagnose this ailment, before he proceeds to criticize the tying of Islam to individuals rather than to institutions.
Shahrur calls what is indicated by the phrase of following what one found one’s forefathers following “the ailment of paternal familiarity,” and regards it as a general ailment that may afflict believing and non-believing nations, rather than as a description restricted to the Arab polytheists. Shahrur uses Al-Baqarah 170, coupled with Az-Zukhruf 22, as evidence in diagnosing “the ailment of paternal familiarity” within his argument at this point.
Citation and location
The State and Society — p. 18.
Limits of the reading
- The citation does not state that the verse directly establishes the concept of “renewal and ijtihad”; this connection is therefore not attributed to Shahrur on this page.
- The citation does not make a general judgment about “heritage” as heritage; its specific subject is following what one found one’s forefathers following.
- The later transition in the text to tying Islam to individuals and failing to transform it into institutions does not establish, on the basis of this citation alone, that it is a direct interpretive consequence of the verse.
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Brief reading
The verse is read here as a critique of adhering to inherited tradition merely because it has been inherited, as an obstacle to renewal and ijtihad.
Axes
- Methodological
- Political and social
Related concepts
- Paternal familiarity: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It is connected to the critique of unjustified adherence to what is customary.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Critique of heritage: 1
Loci of use
- The State and Society, p. 18: He cites it to affirm that adhering to inherited tradition merely because it has been inherited is an epistemic illness that obstructs renewal and ijtihad.
- Concept: paternal familiarity
- Function of the verse here: critique of heritage
- Textual citation: “And His—exalted be He—saying: {And when they are told, ‘Follow what God has sent down…’} (Al-Baqarah 170).”
- Corresponding traditional reading: the assumption that it is specific to the Arab polytheists
Related books
This page is presented within the general methodology for constructing the atlas.