The Pilgrimage 19

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This axis brings together 1 instance 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

{ هَذَانِ خَصْمَانِ اخْتَصَمُوا }

Reader’s Answer

Question

How does Shahrur employ The Pilgrimage 19 in criticizing grammatical rules, and what distinction does he draw?

Shahrur cites the verse to oppose the application of Sibawayh’s rule concerning the agreement of the verb with its subject to the Qur’anic text. He distinguishes between the historically prior Revelation and the later grammatical codification and rule-making; he therefore makes the text the criterion for revising the rule, rather than the reverse.

Shahrur presents The Pilgrimage 19 as an example showing that the rule of agreement between verb and subject in the singular, dual, and plural, as he attributes it to Sibawayh, does not explain the form of the verse in a way that would permit attributing error to the Revelation. Shahrur distinguishes, on the one hand, between the Wise Revelation and, on the other, grammatical documentation and codification, maintaining that grammatical rule-making came after the Arabic tongue and the Revelation. Accordingly, he treats the verse as evidence that Sibawayh did not formulate his rule as rigorously as Shahrur considers necessary.

Citation and Location

Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation — p. 20.

Limits of the Reading

  • The citation does not provide a detailed linguistic analysis of the form «اختصموا», nor does it explain an alternative grammatical account of it.
  • The citation does not state a general position on synonymy or its absence; no claim concerning this should therefore be inferred from it.
  • Here, the verse’s function is limited to criticizing the priority given to schoolbook grammatical rules over the text, according to the attached passage.

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Brief Reading

Shahrur uses it to challenge a schoolbook grammatical rule and to affirm that the rule follows the text, not the reverse.

Axes

  • Methodological
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Grammar and the tongue: 2

Its Place in the Conceptual Network

It contributes to reordering the relationship between the tongue and the rule.

The Verse’s Role in the Argument

  • Critique of tradition: 1

Contexts of Use

  • Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 20: He uses it to challenge a schoolbook grammatical rule and to affirm that the rule follows the text, not the reverse.
    • Concept: Grammar and the tongue
    • The verse’s function here: Critique of tradition
    • Textual citation: «{ هَذَانِ خَصْمَانِ اخْتَصَمُوا } (The Pilgrimage 19)»
    • Corresponding traditional reading: Sibawayh’s view that the verb must agree with its subject in the singular, dual, and plural

This page is presented within the atlas’s general atlas-building methodology.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas