Al-Ma'idah 67

4 min read

This locus brings together 3 instances 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

O Messenger, convey what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you do not do so, then you have not conveyed His message. And God will protect you from the people.

Reader’s Answer

Question

How does Muhammad Shahrur read Qur’an 5:67 with regard to the Messenger’s infallibility and its relation to his prophetic ijtihad?

Shahrur reads the verse as a text concerning the Messenger’s infallibility within the function of conveyance: that is, in transmitting what was sent down to him from his Lord. From this specification, he constructs a distinction between the station of the Messenger as conveyor, whose infallibility lies in conveying the message, and the station of the Prophet, to whom he attributes human ijtihad in administering society. In his reading, the verse does not establish comprehensive infallibility for every prophetic statement or action; rather, it establishes an infallibility confined to fulfilling the message and conveying revelation.

Shahrur explicitly states that the Messenger was “infallible exclusively within the scope of conveying what reached him,” and he cites Qur’an 5:67 to define that scope as conveyance. He uses this specification to reject extending the verse “Nor does he speak from whim” to all of the Messenger’s speech; in his view, it concerns his utterance of the Revelation or the Reminder as he received it, not everything that proceeded from him during his life.

Citation and Location

Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence — p. 122.

Limits of the Reading

  • This account sets out how Shahrur employs the verse as presented in the cited evidence; it does not determine the validity of this use or the extent of its acceptance in Islamic exegesis and jurisprudence.
  • The direct citation from Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 251, presents his view of permissibility, prohibition, and prophetic ijtihads, but it does not cite Qur’an 5:67; it therefore cannot by itself serve as direct evidence for his interpretation of the verse.
  • Attributing every prophetic ijtihad to being circumstantial and non-binding upon those after the Messenger’s era is part of Shahrur’s broader theory, not a direct textual conclusion from Qur’an 5:67 alone.
  • The attached evidence does not establish additional details concerning the occasion of the verse’s revelation or other exegetes’ readings of it.

Continue from Here

Brief Reading

The verse is used to establish the distinction between the infallible conveyance of the message and prophetic ijtihad, which is not made into independent legislation.

Axes

  • Methodological
  • Legislative
  • Messengerhood: 3
  • Messengerhood and conveyance: 2

Its Place in the Conceptual Network

It belongs to the network of concepts that distinguishes between the function of the Messenger and the domain of ijtihad.

The Verse’s Role in the Argument

  • Foundational: 2
  • Supporting: 1

Instances of Use

  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 251: He makes it the basis of the Messenger’s infallibility in the station of messengerhood, as one who conveys rather than legislates on his own authority, in contrast to his ijtihad in the station of prophethood.
    • Concept: messengerhood
    • Function of the verse here: foundational
    • Textual citation: “{O Messenger, convey what has been sent down to you from your Lord…} (Al-Ma’idah 67)”
  • Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 16: He makes it the basis for distinguishing between the infallible function of conveying the message and prophetic ijtihad, which is not binding upon later generations.
    • Concept: messengerhood and conveyance
    • Function of the verse here: foundational
    • Textual citation: “{O Messenger, convey what has been sent down to you from your Lord … and God will protect you from the people} (Al-Ma’idah 67)”
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 122: He reinforces with it the claim that the Messenger’s duty is to convey what was sent down to him, not to legislate on his own authority outside revelation.
    • Concept: messengerhood
    • Function of the verse here: supporting
    • Textual citation: “And His saying: {O Messenger, convey what has been sent down to you from your Lord …} (Al-Ma’idah 67).”

This page is presented within the atlas’s general methodology of atlas construction.

Graph View

Muhammad Shahrur Atlas