Al-Baqarah 5

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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

Those are upon guidance from their Lord, and those are the successful.

Reader’s Answer

Question

How does Shahrur employ the Almighty’s saying, “Those are upon guidance from their Lord, and those are the successful,” in his discussion of spending?

Shahrur employs the verse as the conclusion to the description of the believers preceded by the phrase “and from what We have provided them they spend,” making it a starting point for explaining the believers’ question about the kind of spending through which they may be counted among the people of guidance and success. He then maintains that the intended spending, in this context, is that which remains beyond basic needs and is “in the way of God” or “for the sake of God.”

Shahrur links Qur’an 2:5 to the spending mentioned before it in the description of the believers, presenting guidance and success as connected to this composite description rather than to the wording of the verse in isolation. Shahrur says that it is natural for believers to ask: “What should they spend in order to be among the people of guidance and the possessors of success?” He connects this question to the verse, “And they ask you what they should spend” (al-Baqarah 219). Shahrur specifies that the intended spending is not expenditure on necessities such as food, drink, clothing, and housing, but rather what remains beyond them; he describes it as spending in the way of God or for the sake of God.

Evidence and Location

The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna — p. 96.

Limits of the Reading

  • The evidence does not establish that guidance and success are “the fruit of correct conduct” without qualification; rather, it links them here to the context of spending preceding the verse and to the question, “What should they spend?”
  • The evidence is insufficient to establish a general theory of success or guidance in Shahrur outside this passage.
  • The evidence from The Book and the Qur’an, p. 45, addresses the classification of the precise verses and does not advance a claim directly connected to Qur’an 2:5; it is therefore not used as an interpretive link for the verse.

Continue from Here

Brief Reading

For Shahrur, the verse is linked to guidance and success as the fruit of correct conduct and spending.

Axes

  • Faith-based
  • Human and ethical
  • Success: 2
  • Guidance: 2

Its Place in the Network of Concepts

It is connected to the description of the God-conscious and the guided group in Qur’anic discourse.

The Verse’s Role in the Argument

  • Support: 2

Instances of Use

  • The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna, p. 96: He employs it to link proper spending with guidance and success in the conduct of believers.
    • Concept: Success
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “… concerning the spenders: {Those are upon guidance from their Lord, and those are the successful} al-Baqarah 5.”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 45: He includes it among the verses concerning the God-conscious in order to affirm that the guidance of the Book is directed specifically to this group.
    • Concept: Guidance
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “And they are those {… upon guidance from their Lord…} (al-Baqarah 5).”

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

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas