This axis 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.
Text of the Verse as Cited
“Indeed, I am placing a vicegerent on earth.”
Reader’s Answer
Question
What is the place of al-Baqarah 30 in Shahrur’s sequence of creation, what distinction does he draw, and what function does the verse serve in his argument?
Shahrur places al-Baqarah 30 at the beginning of the sequence of verses 30–34, taking the phrase concerning the placing of a vicegerent on earth as evidence for the completion of fashioning. He then distinguishes this passage from verses 31–33, which he links to the beginning of the breathing of the spirit, or the “beginning of humanization,” before reaching the command to prostrate in verse 34.
Shahrur reads al-Baqarah 30 as indicating the completion of the stage of fashioning within the sequence of al-Baqarah verses 30–34. He distinguishes between the indication of al-Baqarah 30 regarding the completion of fashioning and that of verses 31–33 regarding the beginning of the breathing of the spirit, which he calls the beginning of humanization. The function of al-Baqarah 30 in his argument is to establish the point at which fashioning is completed before verse 34, which he links to the angels’ command to prostrate.
Evidence and Location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 259.
Limits of the Reading
- The evidence establishes a specifically Shahrurian interpretive ordering between al-Baqarah verses 30–34 and the stages of creation; it does not establish this ordering as an agreed-upon meaning of the verses.
- The evidence does not explicitly state that the verse concerns “preparation for vicegerency”; this description is therefore not relied upon in the answer.
- The evidence does not provide an independent definition of the concept of vicegerency in the verse, but instead employs it as a marker of the completion of fashioning.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
The verse appears within an evolutionary reading of human creation, in which fashioning is understood to precede preparation for vicegerency on earth.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- Fashioning: 2
- Vicegerency: 2
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It is connected to the construction of the context of creation as a preparatory stage for vicegerency.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Context: 1
- Support: 1
Instances of Use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 259: He takes it to indicate the completion of the stage of fashioning before prostration, within his evolutionary reading of human creation.
- Concept: fashioning
- Function of the verse here: context
- Textual evidence: “We note in verse 30 of Surat al-Baqarah His, exalted be He, saying: {Indeed, I am placing a vicegerent on earth} as an indication of the completion of fashioning.”
- Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 59: He employs it to show that, after the breathing of the spirit, the human being became qualified for vicegerency on earth.
- Concept: vicegerency
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “He thereby deserved to succeed God on earth, according to His, exalted be He, saying: {Indeed, I am placing a vicegerent on earth…} (al-Baqarah 30).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.