This axis brings together 1 locus of 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, you commit the indecency}
Reader’s answer
Question
Where does Shahrur cite the verse, what distinction does he draw from it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
Shahrur cites the verse in The State and Society (p. 49), within a historical account of the formation of the family. He treats it as evidence that the first of the indecencies to be prohibited, after the completion of the primary family in his conception, was sodomy. He distinguishes this from sexual relations with non-mahram women, which he had mentioned previously, stating that these were not considered an indecency at that stage. Its function in his argument is to establish this historical sequence of prohibition, not to state a comprehensive ruling on every form of zinā.
Shahrur cites Qur’an 29:28 in the context of his discussion of the formation of the family and the transition to what he calls the paternal family. He understands the verse as evidence that the first of the indecencies prohibited by God, after the completion of the primary family, was sodomy. Shahrur distinguishes between sodomy, which he places as the first prohibited indecency in this trajectory, and sexual relations with non-mahram women, mentioned earlier, which he maintains were not considered an indecency at that time.
Citation and location
The State and Society — p. 49.
Limits of the reading
- The citation does not provide independent proof of the validity of this historical sequence; rather, it establishes that Shahrur adopts it and relies on the verse for it.
- The citation does not state that the verse concerns “zinā” as a general term; therefore, the distinction should not be turned into a claim about all forms of zinā.
- The citation does not establish a relation of synonymy or non-synonymy between “indecency” and other terms.
- The attached excerpt from the Joseph citation is incomplete, so no further detail is inferred from it here.
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Brief reading
The verse establishes a historical understanding according to which the first prohibition of indecency concerned sodomy.
Axes
- Legal
- Narrative and historical
Related concepts
- Indecency: 2
- Sodomy: 1
- Zinā: 1
- Prohibition: 1
Its place in the network of concepts
It belongs to an ordering of the history of prohibition, rather than to collecting all forms at once.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Establishment: 1
Loci of use
- The State and Society, p. 49: He treats it as evidence that the first prohibition of indecency in the course of history concerned sodomy, rather than all forms of zinā at once.
- Concept: indecency
- Function of the verse here: establishment
- Textual citation: “The Qur’anic narratives tell us that the first of the indecencies prohibited by God, after the completion of the primary family, was sodomy. As stated on the tongue of Lot: {Indeed, you commit the indecency} (Al-ʿAnkabūt 28).”
Related books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.