This axis brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
How can you disbelieve in God when you were dead and He gave you life; then He causes you to die, then gives you life, then to Him you will be returned.
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Al-Baqarah 28 in understanding death, life, and return?
Shahrur employs the verse as evidence that death, in the case of the human being, belongs to a succession between the two states of death and life: the human being was “dead” and was then given life, then dies, then is brought to life, and then returns to God. He places this citation within his distinction between “death” as a transition and succession, and “perishing” as an irreversible, one-way cessation. Thus, for him, the verse is not merely a description of the cycle of nature; rather, it is a text he explicitly cites in speaking about the human being.
Shahrur cites Al-Baqarah 28 when speaking about the human being, after citing Al-Rum 19 as an example concerning things in nature. Shahrur understands death as a phenomenon of transition from one state to another, and says that its succession with life makes it life’s companion in the cycle of life. Shahrur contrasts death with perishing: for him, perishing is a one-way human phenomenon and a cessation of effect, unlike death, which he describes as succeeding life.
Citation and Location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 291.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation establishes where Shahrur deploys the verse within his distinction between death and perishing, but it does not explain in detail what he means by each stage in the wording of the verse, nor does it provide an independent argument for how resurrection occurs or what its nature is.
- It is not valid to attribute an expanded interpretation of the phrase “then to Him you will be returned” to Shahrur on the basis of this excerpt alone; the excerpt cites the verse in full but comments generally on the succession of death and life.
- The available material consists of one citation repeated in the data, not two independent citations.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
For Shahrur, the verse is read within the cycle of life, death, and return, in order to clarify the meaning of resurrection for the human being.
Axes
- Faith
- Narrative and historical
Related Concepts
- Life and death: 2
- Resurrection: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to the overall conception of human destiny between death and being brought to life.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Example: 1
- Foundation: 1
Instances of Use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 291: He uses it to support the idea that the succession of death and life applies to the human being as well, not to nature alone.
- Concept: Life and death
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual citation: “And for the human being, His—exalted be He—saying: {How can you disbelieve in God when you were dead …} (Al-Baqarah 28).”
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 291: He employs it to show that human death belongs to a cycle, followed by life and then return, unlike perishing, from which there is no return.
- Concept: Resurrection
- Function of the verse here: Foundation
- Textual citation: “With regard to the human being, His—exalted be He—saying: {How can you disbelieve in God when you were dead …} (Al-Baqarah 28).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.