This axis brings together 1 locus in which this verse is used in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The verse text as cited
﴿Perhaps those who disbelieved will wish that they had been Muslims﴾
Reader’s answer
Question
Where does Shahrur employ Al-Hijr 2, what does unbelief mean in it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
Shahrur employs the verse in Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism (p. 44) to distinguish unbelief in this passage as hostility toward the Messenger’s call, an attempt to prevent it, and warfare against it, rather than as a judgment limited to disbelief in God and the Last Day. The verse serves his argument by separating practical hostility to the call from the minimum requirement he identifies for Islam.
Shahrur maintains that unbelief in Al-Hijr 2 is hostility toward the Messenger’s call, in the context of hostile positions that sought to prevent the call and then moved to wage war against it. In this context, Shahrur distinguishes this hostility from belief in God and the Last Day, and states that the minimum required for a person to be Muslim is belief in God and the Last Day.
Citation and location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 44.
Limits of the reading
- The citation establishes this specification in the context of Al-Hijr 2 and the argument presented in the attached passage; it does not establish a comprehensive definition of unbelief in all Qur’anic usages.
- The citation provides historical examples of hostility toward the call, but this passage alone does not permit the judgment to be generalized to everyone who does not believe in the call.
- The citation does not establish a general terminological equivalence or distinction between the terms unbelief, Islam, and faith beyond the distinction it explicitly states here.
Continue from here
Brief reading
The verse defines unbelief here as hostility to the Muhammadan call, not merely as disbelief in God in the absolute sense.
Axes
- Faith-related
- Political and social
Related concepts
- Hostility toward the Messenger: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It contributes to defining the meaning of unbelief within the messengerly and social context of the call.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Distinction: 1
Places of use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 44: It defines unbelief here as hostility to the Muhammadan call, not merely disbelief in God in the absolute sense.
- Concept: Hostility toward the Messenger
- Function of the verse here: Distinction
- Textual citation: “{Perhaps those who disbelieved will wish that they had been Muslims} (Al-Hijr 2); thus, unbelief here is hostility toward the Messenger’s call.”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.