This axis brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The text of the verse as cited
Those are the ones in whose hearts He has inscribed faith …
Reader’s answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Qur’anic statement, “Those are the ones in whose hearts He has inscribed faith,” in Al-Mujadilah 22?
Shahrur employs the verse to link “inscribing faith in hearts” and supporting believers with a spirit from Him to their stance toward those who “oppose God and His Messenger,” even if they are relatives. He explains “He has inscribed faith in their hearts” as making faith firm and strengthening it, and adds that this divine support is connected, in his reading, to people’s will and choice. The accompanying evidence does not make this meaning a command to declare hostility or hatred toward every dissenter.
Shahrur presents the verse as concerning people who do not show affection to those who oppose God and His Messenger, regardless of the closeness of their kinship, and links this to their faith in God and the Last Day. Shahrur interprets the phrase “He has inscribed faith in their hearts” to mean that God “makes” faith firm in the hearts of these people and strengthens it, while supporting them with a spirit from Him. Shahrur adds that God’s will in this firm establishment was connected, in his formulation, to their own will and choice; that is, human choice forms part of the description of the path that led to faith being made firm.
Evidence and location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 19.
Limits of the reading
- This presents Shahrur’s reading as it appears in the cited evidence; it does not establish the verse’s sole meaning or offer a comprehensive interpretation of it.
- The principal citation from p. 19 breaks off at the phrase “and it does not mean,” so nothing beyond that point should be attributed to the attached text.
- The evidence does not establish that the verse concerns every form of affection or all dissenters without exception; Shahrur’s own wording limits the discussion to those who “oppose God and His Messenger.”
- The quoted text contains apparent typographical errors or corruption in the wording of the verse; the explanation therefore relies on the explicitly stated interpretive meaning rather than on this transmitted wording.
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Brief reading
The verse is used to show that God makes faith firm in the hearts of those who choose the truth, with affection understood in a particular context.
Axes
- Faith-related
- Human and ethical
Related concepts
- Firm establishment of faith: 2
- Affection: 2
- Truth: 1
- Kinship: 1
Its place in the conceptual network
It is connected to the concept of loyalty based on faith rather than on the bond of kinship alone.
Role of the verse in the argument
- Support: 2
Instances of use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, pp. 19–20: He explains it as meaning that God makes faith firm in the hearts of those who choose the stance of truth, even against their relatives.
- Concept: Firm establishment of faith
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “{… Those are the ones in whose hearts He has inscribed faith …} (Al-Mujadilah 22)”
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 189: He understands it as a prohibition on exchanging affection with those at war with God and His Messenger, not as a command to declare hostility and hatred from the outset.
- Concept: Affection
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “{You will not find a people who believe in God and the Last Day showing affection to those who oppose God and His Messenger…} (Al-Mujadilah 22).”
Related books
This page is presented within the overall methodology for building the atlas.