This axis brings together 2 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
And others of its kind, in pairs
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Qur’anic statement, “And others of its kind, in pairs,” in his conception of the afterlife?
Shahrur employs the verse as evidence for the persistence of the “law of pairs” in the afterlife, while maintaining that this persistence takes a “different pattern” from that of this world. He joins the verse to his statement about the pairs of Paradise in order to argue that pairs exist in both Paradise and Hell—not as a relationship between Paradise and Hell, but as a characteristic existing within each of them.
Shahrur maintains that the “law of pairs” persists in eschatological existence, although its pattern differs from that in worldly life. He cites Sad 58, “And others of its kind, in pairs,” to establish the existence of pairs in Hell, and contrasts it with his citation of the verse “They and their spouses” to establish the existence of pairs in Paradise. For Shahrur, the understanding of the verse forms part of a broader conception of the afterlife as a material existence with new laws; this is a theoretical premise that he explicitly states in the same passage, rather than a detailed conclusion derived from the verse alone.
Citation and Location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 207.
Limits of the Reading
- This presentation describes Shahrur’s use of the verse in the accompanying text and does not offer an independent exegetical preference regarding the meaning of “pairs.”
- The single citation supports the direct connection between Sad 58 and the idea of the persistence of pairs in Hell, but it does not elaborate the mechanism of “influencing and being influenced” or the nature of eschatological existence.
- The claim that the afterlife has new material laws belongs to Shahrur’s theoretical construction accompanying the citation, rather than constituting an independent linguistic explanation of the verse.
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Brief Reading
He uses it to affirm that pairs in the afterlife fall within a distinct eschatological order, and that both Paradise and Hell have pairs within their respective domains.
Axes
- Faith
- Narrative and historical
Related Concepts
- Pairs of Paradise: 2
- Pairs of Hell: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to his conception of the world of the afterlife as a structure differing from this world in the details of bliss and punishment.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Context: 2
Instances of Use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 207: He cites it as evidence that the existence of pairs in the afterlife is of another kind, existing within Paradise and Hell rather than between them.
- Concept: Pairs of Paradise
- Function of the verse here: Context
- Textual citation: “Thus, in Paradise there are pairs {They and their spouses}, and in Hell there are pairs {And others of its kind, in pairs} (Sad 58).”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 207: He uses it to establish that Hell, too, has pairs, but within an eschatological order different from this world.
- Concept: Pairs of Hell
- Function of the verse here: Context
- Textual citation: “And in Hell there are pairs {And others of its kind, in pairs} (Sad 58).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.