This thematic entry 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
There is no blame upon those who believe and do righteous deeds for what they have consumed …
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur read the Almighty’s statement: “There is no blame upon those who believe and do righteous deeds for what they have consumed …”?
Shahrur employs the verse in two readings connected to the text: he expands “what they have consumed” from food alone to the sphere of worldly life and all that falls within it, including play, diversion, adornment, boasting, and rivalry in wealth and children; and he reads the repetition of God-consciousness and faith as a progression between the God-consciousness of Islam, then the God-consciousness of faith, then the God-consciousness of spiritual excellence. Accordingly, for him the verse is not an isolated ruling concerning food alone, but a connection between the affairs of worldly life and a gradual ethical and faith-based path.
Shahrur explains “what they have consumed” as indicating the sphere of worldly life “with all its successive elements,” which he enumerates as play, diversion, adornment, boasting, and rivalry in wealth and children.
Citation and Location
Islam and Faith — p. 127.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation does not provide an independent linguistic analysis demonstrating that “they have consumed” means all the elements of worldly life; rather, it explicitly states that this is the connection Shahrur proposes between the verse from al-Ma’idah and the verse from al-Hadid.
- The progression should not be reduced to “two levels of God-consciousness”: the direct citation mentions three instances of God-consciousness—those of Islam, then faith, then spiritual excellence.
- The attached citation does not explain the details of the practical rulings that might follow from this expansion of the meaning of “what they have consumed.”
- The citation concerning the People of the Book, Islam, and faith does not directly explain al-Ma’idah 93; it should therefore not be treated as independent evidence for its reading here.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
A reading based on the verse distinguishes between two levels of God-consciousness and connects permissibility in food with the context of worldly life.
Themes
- Legislative
- Human and Ethical
Related Concepts
- Tasting/consumption: 2
- God-consciousness: 2
- Islam and Faith: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It connects the ruling concerning food with the distinction between levels of God-consciousness and faith.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Foundational: 2
- Supportive: 1
Instances of Use
- Islam and Faith, p. 127: He explains it as meaning that the sphere of permissibility in food is connected to the elements of worldly life that he had explained beforehand.
- Concept: Tasting/consumption
- Function of the verse here: Supportive
- Textual citation: “We can now connect the Almighty’s statement in Surat al-Ma’idah: {There is no blame upon those who believe and do righteous deeds for what they have consumed …} (al-Ma’idah 93) with the Almighty’s statement: {Know that the life of this world …}”
- The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought, pp. 11–12: He bases on it his division of God-consciousness and faith into two levels: the first for Islam and values, and the second for faith and rituals.
- Concept: God-consciousness
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual citation: “He says: {There is no blame upon those who believe and do righteous deeds…} (al-Ma’idah 93), so the first God-consciousness and the first faith …”
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 79: He bases on it his distinction between the God-consciousness of Islam and the God-consciousness of faith, and holds that “idhā mā” in it negates dispensation concerning the commandments, not concerning all rulings.
- Concept: Islam and Faith
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual citation: “We have previously explained this verse … and it contains two faiths: the first, faith of submission … and the second, faith of affirmation … We also clarified that the commandments and adherence to the straight path are part of the pillars of Islam.”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.