This axis brings together 1 occurrence 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
Have you considered if he denies and turns away?
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ God’s saying, “Have you considered if he denies and turns away?” in explaining the meanings of derivatives of the root w-l-y?
Shahrur employs the verse as the final occurrence of derivatives of the root w-l-y in the Wise Revelation, maintaining that tawallā here denotes abandonment and turning away. From this occurrence, within his survey of the root’s usages, he concludes that its derivatives do not extend beyond two general meanings: approaching through following, or abandoning through turning away.
Shahrur considers Al-‘Alaq 13 to be the final occurrence in which derivatives of the root w-l-y appear in the Wise Revelation. He links tawallā in the verse to the meaning of abandonment and turning away, rather than to that of approaching and following. He places the verse within a broader division of the derivatives of w-l-y into two meanings: approaching through following and abandoning through turning away.
Citation and Location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 168.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation conveys Shahrur’s conclusion in surveying the meanings of derivatives of w-l-y, but the excerpt does not offer an independent analysis of the structure of the verse in Al-‘Alaq or of its full context.
- The description of the verse as the “final boundary” should be understood, according to the cited text, as the final occurrence in the order in which derivatives of the root appear in the muṣḥaf, rather than as a semantic boundary established by the verse itself.
- This citation alone does not establish any political or juridical extension of the meaning of allegiance; what it establishes is Shahrur’s lexical use of the verse within his general division.
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Brief Reading
The verse establishes the final boundary in the derivatives of allegiance by linking them to the meaning of turning away and withdrawal.
Axes
- Linguistic and semantic
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- Turning away: 2
- Allegiance: 1
- Withdrawal: 1
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It represents a point of linguistic calibration for the concept of allegiance in the network.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Foundational: 1
Contexts of Use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 168: He cites it to identify the final Qur’anic boundary of the derivatives of allegiance and link them to the meaning of turning away.
- Concept: Turning away
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual citation: “And the last of them is in His saying—Exalted is He—: {Have you considered if he denies and turns away?} (Al-‘Alaq 13).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.