This axis 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
Those who say, “God is the Messiah, son of Mary,” have certainly disbelieved… And the Messiah said, “O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord”… Indeed, whoever associates partners with God… God has forbidden Paradise to him
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Shahrur read the Almighty’s statement: “Those who say, ‘God is the Messiah, son of Mary,’ have certainly disbelieved”?
In the available evidence, Shahrur employs the verse to establish that disbelief here is connected to an openly stated assertion: the verse describes a group that publicly said that God is the Messiah, son of Mary, and he infers from the formulation “those who say” that disbelief is an overt verbal stance, not merely a concealed belief. This evidence alone does not provide a detailed critique of “incarnation” as a theory, although the verse itself rejects this statement and associates it with disbelief and polytheism.
Shahrur cites al-Māʾidah 72 to argue that disbelief, in this passage, is an openly stated assertion and an overt stance, because the verse says: “those who say.” In his explanation, Shahrur distinguishes between disbelief, which he describes as something that is said and declared, and polytheism, which he does not ordinarily regard as a person’s direct public declaration about himself.
Evidence and Location
The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought — p. 14.
Limits of the Reading
- The available evidence does not establish that Shahrur offers, in this passage, a detailed critique of the doctrine of incarnation or presents it as an “extension of the idea of personification.”
- The citation attributed in the usage to the book “Islam and Humanity” is not supported here by a quotation from that book; the available evidence is from “Islam and Faith” and “The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought.”
- Shahrur’s distinction between disbelief and polytheism should not be turned into a comprehensive definition of either outside his specific formulation in the evidence.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
The verse is employed to critique incarnation and regard it as a form of disbelief, while linking disbelief to public declaration and confrontation.
Axes
- Faith-based
- Linguistic and semantic
Related Concepts
- Incarnation: 3
- Disbelief: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to the concepts of incarnation and disbelief in the formulation of a clear doctrinal position.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Critique of tradition: 2
- Support: 1
Instances of Use
- Islam and Humanity: He uses it to critique the doctrine of Christ’s incarnation and regard it as disbelief and an extension of the idea of personification.
- Concept: incarnation
- Function of the verse here: critique of tradition
- Textual evidence: “{ Those who say, ‘God is the Messiah, son of Mary,’ have certainly disbelieved … } (al-Māʾidah 72)”
- Corresponding traditional reading: the assertion of Christ’s divinity or of God’s incarnation in him
- Islam and Faith, p. 245: He understands it as a condemnation of the polytheism of incarnation and considers it the most severe form of polytheism because it leads to Paradise being forbidden.
- Concept: incarnation
- Function of the verse here: critique of tradition
- Textual evidence: “A - { Those who say, ‘God [is] the Messiah, son of Mary,’ have certainly disbelieved… … God has forbidden Paradise to him…} (al-Māʾidah 72).”
- Corresponding traditional reading: the assertion that God is the Messiah
- The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought, p. 14: He cites it to argue that disbelief in the Qur’an is an openly stated assertion, and therefore links it to explicit declaration and public confrontation.
- Concept: disbelief
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “The Almighty says: { Those who say, ‘God is the Messiah, son of Mary,’ have certainly disbelieved } (al-Māʾidah 72)”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.