Al-Baqarah 180

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This verse recurs in Shahrur because it is among the passages on the bequest that he regards as an independent legislative foundation, rather than a ruling appended to the chapter of inheritance or abrogated by it. Through it, he links obligation to capacity and opens his critique of the inherited understanding of abrogation.

Text of the verse as cited

Prescribed for you, when death approaches one of you …

Reader’s answer

Question

Where does Shahrur cite Al-Baqarah 180, what does he establish with it, and what function does it serve in his argument?

The verse is mentioned in Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence (p. 172), within a discussion of jurisprudential problems concerning the verses of inheritance. Shahrur treats the cited report concerning the prophets as a bequest and as an implementation of the divine command in the verse, and takes it as evidence for rejecting the claim that the ruling on the bequest was abrogated.

Shahrur reads the report attributed to the prophets concerning leaving wealth as charity as a bequest, linking it to the implementation of the divine command in Al-Baqarah 180. He deploys Al-Baqarah 180 in his argument against claims that the ruling on the bequest was abrogated.

Evidence and location

Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence — p. 172.

Limits of the reading

  • The evidence does not establish that the bequest is “self-standing” in contrast to inheritance, nor that it does not merge into it or is not superseded in its favor, except insofar as Shahrur objects to the claim of abrogation.
  • The evidence does not establish a link between the obligation in the verse and human ability or capacity.
  • The evidence does not establish that the bequest is described as an obligation upon the God-conscious, since it does not address the conclusion of the verse concerning the God-conscious.
  • It is not valid to infer a comprehensive terminological synonymy or distinction between the bequest and inheritance from this passage alone.

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Brief reading

For him, the verse demonstrates that the bequest stands on its own and that the obligation it contains cannot be separated from human ability and capacity. It is therefore read in direct relation to the chapter of inheritance, but neither merges into it nor is superseded in its favor.

Axes

  • Legislative
  • Human and ethical
  • Methodological
  • Bequest: 7
  • Obligation: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

The verse is connected to the bequest, obligation, capacity, and the critique of abrogation. It is important because it gives Shahrur an entry point for reorganizing the relationship between the bequest and inheritance within the structure of the text.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Foundational: 4
  • Critique of tradition: 2
  • Support: 1

Summary of its presence in the atlas

  • The bequest is an independent legislative foundation.
  • The obligation in it is tied to capacity.
  • It features in the critique of the claim that the bequest was annulled.

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.

Contexts of use

  • The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna, p. 53: He uses the conclusion of the verse to affirm that the bequest is an established right and an obligation upon the God-conscious; thus, in his view, it cannot admit abrogation.
    • Concept: Bequest
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
    • Textual evidence: “Those who maintained it erred when the conclusion of the verse escaped them, in His Exalted saying: {… ‘a duty upon the God-conscious’} Al-Baqarah 180.”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 17: He makes it an example of the formulation “prescribed for you,” which for him indicates an obligation contingent on ability rather than an absolute duty.
    • Concept: Obligation
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual evidence: “Obligations came in the Wise Revelation in the form ‘prescribed for you,’ such as {‘Prescribed for you, when death approaches one of you…’} (Al-Baqarah 180).”
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 171: He makes it the basis for his claim that the bequest takes precedence over inheritance and that its scope is broader than the inherited jurisprudential understanding.
    • Concept: Bequest
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual evidence: “The divine command that He—glorified be He—repeated four times in verses 11 and 12 of Al-Nisa’.”
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 171: He employs it to establish that the verse of the bequest is an independent foundation that is not abrogated by the hadith ‘No bequest for an heir,’ as inherited jurisprudence claims.
    • Concept: Bequest
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “{‘The bequest is for parents and near relatives’} (Al-Baqarah 180) refutes the claims of abrogation.”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: The bequest was abrogated by the inheritance verses and the hadith “No bequest for an heir.”
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 171: He adduces it to argue that the bequest is a general divine obligation, not reducible to a bequest for heirs alone and not limited to a fixed third.
    • Concept: Bequest
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual evidence: “{‘Prescribed for you, when death approaches one of you, if he leaves behind wealth, is the bequest’} (Al-Baqarah 180).”
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 172: He criticizes the jurists’ limitation of the bequest to one-third of the estate and holds that the verse sets no numerical ceiling for it.
    • Concept: Bequest
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
    • Textual evidence: “{‘The bequest is for parents and near relatives’} … knowing that God—Exalted is He—has set no limits for the bequest in the Wise Revelation.”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: Limiting the bequest to one-third
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 178: He makes it a criterion for reading the report of Sa‘d ibn al-Rabi‘, maintaining that the Companion should have written his bequest before going out to battle.
    • Concept: Bequest
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual evidence: “In implementation of God’s command—glorified be He: {‘Prescribed for you … the bequest is for parents and near relatives …’}.”

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

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