This axis brings together 1 instance of this verse’s use in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The Verse Text as Cited
Do not fear; indeed, the messengers do not fear in My presence …
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Almighty’s statement, “Do not fear; indeed, the messengers do not fear in My presence,” in his discussion of the infallibility of messengers?
Shahrur employs the verse within his distinction between the station of messengerhood and the station of prophethood: messengers, in his view, are infallible in bearing and conveying the message; they neither add to it nor subtract from it, nor do they bring anything forward or delay it. What falls under prophethood, however—such as knowledge, wisdom, and independent reasoning—remains a domain in which correctness, error, and divine reproach may occur. The verse appears in the cited passage as a Qur’anic example he adduces within this framework, rather than as an independent, detailed explanation of its wording.
Shahrur makes the infallibility of messengers conditional upon the “bounds of their messengerhood,” that is, the domain of prohibition and permission, command and prohibition, and the conveyance of this domain. He elaborates this infallibility as preventing addition, omission, advancement, delay, forgetfulness, dropping elements, confusion, and delusion in performing the message. Shahrur contrasts messengerhood with prophethood: for him, messengerhood is a domain of binding legislation that requires the infallibility of its bearer and conveyor, whereas prophethood encompasses knowledge, wisdom, guidance, and independent reasoning concerning what is permitted; such reasoning admits both correctness and error.
Source and Location
Toward New Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence — p. 93.
Limits of the Reading
- The cited passage does not offer an independent linguistic or contextual interpretation of the phrase “the messengers do not fear in My presence”; rather, it cites the verse within a broader theoretical exposition of messengerhood and prophethood.
- The cited passage does not establish absolute infallibility for messengers in all their actions and circumstances; rather, it explicitly restricts infallibility to the bounds of the message.
- At the end of the quotation, there is a reference written as “(al-Nahl 10),” although the verse text displayed is from Surat al-Naml 10. The typographical reference in the original should therefore be verified before drawing a conclusion from the printed surah number.
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Brief Reading
It is cited as evidence for the infallibility of messengers within the function of conveying the message, not beyond it.
Axes
- Faith-based
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- Infallibility: 2
- Conveying the message: 1
- Messengers: 1
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to defining the scope and limits of infallibility.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Support: 1
Instances of Use
- Toward New Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 93: It is cited as evidence for the infallibility of messengers within the function of conveying the message, not beyond it, and that they do not yield to pressure, omission, or addition in the message.
- Concept: infallibility
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “And His statement to Moses: { DO NOT FEAR; INDEED, THE MESSENGERS DO NOT FEAR IN MY PRESENCE … } (al-Nahl 10, 11)”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.