This axis brings together 1 occurrence of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
And say, “Praise be to God. He will show you His signs, and you will recognize them. And your Lord is not unaware of what you do.”
Reader’s Response
Question
Where does the verse occur, what distinction does Shahrur draw, and what function does it serve in his argument?
The verse occurs in Al-Naml 93. Shahrur connects it to a proposition concerning the inauguration of “human sovereignty” and to the knowledge of God’s signs without sensory objects or visible phenomena; in this context, he states that the Seal of the Prophets did not perform any supernatural feat or miracle. The verse therefore serves to support the transition to knowledge of the signs, rather than merely being cited in isolation.
Shahrur places Al-Naml 93 in the context of humanity’s knowledge of God’s signs when discussing the inauguration of the stage of “human sovereignty,” connected to God in the unseen, without sensory objects or visible phenomena. In this context, Shahrur distinguishes between the Seal of the Prophets and prophets of supernatural feats and miracles, maintaining that he performed neither a supernatural feat nor a miracle, and then links this to knowledge of God’s signs through Al-Naml 93.
Citation and Location
Religion and Power — p. 74.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation does not define in detail what is meant by God’s signs or explain the mechanism by which they are known.
- The citation does not explicitly use the phrase “reliance on sensory miracles,” although it mentions supernatural feats and miracles and affirms the connection to God without sensory objects or visible phenomena.
- The citation alone is insufficient to establish that the verse founds a complete general theory of all stages of human history.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
For Shahrur, the verse supports the idea that the human stage is founded on perceiving God’s signs in the cosmos and on knowledge, rather than on reliance on sensory miracles.
Axes
- Faith
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- Knowledge of the signs: 2
- God’s signs in the cosmos: 1
- Knowledge: 1
- Sensory miracles: 1
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It enters into his network of distinctions between knowledge through the signs and the pursuit of the supernatural.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Support: 1
Occurrences of Use
- Religion and Power, p. 74: He cites it to affirm that the human stage is based on perceiving God’s signs in the cosmos and on knowledge, not on sensory miracles.
- Concept: Knowledge of the signs
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “The inauguration of the stage of ‘human sovereignty,’ connected in the unseen to God without sensory objects or visible phenomena, so that the human being may attain knowledge of God’s signs in His saying, Exalted is He: {And say, ‘Praise be to God. He will show you His signs, and you will recognize them …’}”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.