This axis brings together 1 locus where this verse is used in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
This is Our record, speaking against you in truth. Indeed, We have been recording what you used to do.
Reader’s Answer
Question
Where is this verse located, what does Shahrur distinguish within it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
The verse is in Surat al-Jathiyah, verse 29. Shahrur reads it as evidence that deeds are copied and recorded when they occur, and uses it to counter an understanding according to which the recording of a person’s action precedes its occurrence.
Shahrur attributes the verse to Surat al-Jathiyah (29) and cites it as evidence that human deeds are recorded against people when they occur, not before they occur. Shahrur interprets “copying” (istinsākh) to mean that the original of what is copied is the human act itself when it comes into being, not a writing that precedes the act. The verse’s function in his argument is to oppose the understanding that a person’s lifespan, provision, deeds, and misery or happiness are written for them in advance.
Citation and Location
the Book and the Qur’an — p. 351.
Limits of the Reading
- This citation establishes Shahrur’s reading of the verse and its role in his objection to the prior writing of deeds, but it does not provide a comprehensive treatment here of the concept of qadar or of all uses of “the record” in the Qur’an.
- The citation does not establish a general synonymy or terminological distinction among other terms beyond what it explicitly states concerning copying and deeds.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
It is understood to mean that deeds are recorded after they occur, rather than having been written in advance for the human being.
Axes
- Theological
- Human and ethical
Related Concepts
- Recording of deeds: 2
- Deed: 1
- Accountability: 1
Place in the Conceptual Network
It connects human action with its recording in accountability.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Support: 1
Loci of Use
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 351: He interprets it to mean that deeds are copied and recorded after they occur, rather than being written in advance for the human being.
- Concept: Recording of deeds
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “This is clear in His, exalted be He, saying: {This is Our record, speaking against you in truth. Indeed, We have been recording what you used to do} (al-Jathiyah 29).”
- Corresponding traditional reading: Many people understand that a fetus has its lifespan, provision, deeds, and whether it will be miserable or happy written for it in advance.
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.