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.
The Verse as Cited
{And the Trumpet will be blown, whereupon whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will be struck unconscious, except whomever God wills. Then it will be blown another time, and behold, they will be standing, looking on.}
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Shahrur employ Qur’an 39:68 in his conception of cosmic transformation, and what does he say about the meaning of saʿq?
Shahrur employs the verse in two connected but non-identical contexts. In The Book and the Qur’an, he reads the two blowings as a Qur’anic expression of two “leaps” within the transition of the universe from its present form to another material universe. In The State and Society, he begins with the term “fa-saʿiqa” and draws on a lexicographical definition he cites, according to which saʿq means “a loud sound.” Thus, for him, the verse is not merely an account of the scene of resurrection, but an entry point for constructing his own cosmological conception. Yet the citation does not, by itself, demonstrate the details of this conception, nor does it establish that the meaning of saʿq in the verse is confined to a loud sound.
Shahrur explicitly states that Qur’an 39:68 expressed the two “leaps” that he connects with the destruction of the present form of the universe and the formation of another material universe. In this context, Shahrur understands the first blowing in connection with the striking unconscious of those in the heavens and on the earth, then places the other blowing within his account of a subsequent transition culminating in a new universe.
Citation and Location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 203.
Limits of the Reading
- The verse itself mentions two blowings, the striking unconscious of those in the heavens and on the earth, and then their rising; the details of the two “leaps,” the new universe, and its laws are part of Shahrur’s explicitly stated interpretive construction in the citation, not of the verse’s wording alone.
- The citation from The State and Society establishes Shahrur’s reference to a linguistic meaning of saʿq and the beginning of his application of it, but the excerpt does not include the full conclusion of this application to the punishment of towns.
- No interpretive relationship should be established between his cosmological conception and his reading of saʿq merely because both occur in connection with the same verse; the two citations establish two uses, not proof that one grounds the other.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
Shahrur makes it the basis for the idea of two cosmic blowings, drawing on the linguistic meaning of saʿq.
Axes
- Faith-based
- Linguistic and semantic
Related Concepts
- Saʿq: 2
- The two blowings: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to the construction of a cosmological conception that begins with destruction and ends with resurrection.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 1
- Foundation: 1
Instances of Use
- The State and Society, p. 92: He relies on it to interpret saʿq according to its linguistic meaning, “a loud sound,” and to connect it to the punishment of towns.
- Concept: Saʿq
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “We proceed directly to verse 68 of Surat al-Zumar … where we find Him telling us that, when the Trumpet is blown on the Day of Resurrection, whoever is in the heavens and on the earth will be struck unconscious.”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 203: He makes the verse evidence for the existence of two cosmic leaps: the first for destruction and the second for resurrection.
- Concept: The two blowings
- Function of the verse here: Foundation
- Textual citation: “The Qur’an expressed the two leaps in a single verse, saying: {And the Trumpet will be blown, whereupon whoever is in the heavens… Then it will be blown another time, and behold, they will be standing, looking on.} (al-Zumar 68).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.