Az-Zukhruf 23

3 min read

This entry brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

Text of the verse as cited

Indeed, we found our fathers adhering to a religion, and we follow in their footsteps.

Reader’s answer

Question

How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Qur’anic statement, “Indeed, we found our fathers adhering to a religion, and we follow in their footsteps,” in his reading?

Shahrur employs the verse in two distinct contexts. In his linguistic study, he treats the term “ummah” as evidence that the root umm, according to what he cites from the lexicon, is connected with the meanings of origin, point of reference, community, and religion; here, the verse indicates the meaning of “religion.” Elsewhere, he reads the people’s adherence to what they found their fathers following as “steadfastness in the principle of ancestralism,” and regards it as a form of polytheism in his view because he links it to intellectual stagnation and the cessation of development.

Shahrur cites Az-Zukhruf 23 in his derivational discussion of the root umm, connecting “ummah” in this verse to the meaning of religion, among the root’s multiple origins and meanings that he cites from the lexicon.

Citation and location

Islam and Faith — p. 179.

Limits of the reading

  • The linguistic citation establishes that Shahrur places the verse under the meaning of “religion” for the root umm, but the excerpt does not provide a complete grammatical or contextual analysis of the verse.
  • The description of ancestralism as polytheism is specific to Shahrur’s method and his definition of polytheism; it is not a presentation of the exegetical or linguistic disagreement concerning the verse.
  • The evidence does not establish that the meaning of “ummah” in the verse necessarily encompasses all the meanings of the root umm that Shahrur lists; the excerpt specifies it here as meaning religion.

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Brief reading

Shahrur draws on it to expand the linguistic meaning of the root umm, then to articulate his critique of ancestralism as a cessation of development.

Themes

  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Human and ethical
  • Ummah: 2
  • Ancestralism: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

It connects linguistic derivation with a critique of inherited following.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Support: 1
  • Critique of tradition: 1

Instances of use

  • Islam and Faith, p. 179: He cites it among lexical derivations to show that the root umm is connected to the meanings of origin, following, and community, not only to birth.
    • Concept: Ummah
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: ““… Indeed, we found our fathers adhering to a religion, and we follow in their footsteps.} (Az-Zukhruf 23).”
  • Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 40: He cites it to critique imitation of one’s forefathers as a form of polytheism founded on fixity and the rejection of development.
    • Concept: Ancestralism
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
    • Textual citation: “{ … Indeed, we found our fathers adhering to a religion … } (Az-Zukhruf 23).”

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

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas