This axis brings together 1 instance 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
Forgiver of sin and Accepter of repentance, severe in punishment, Possessor of bounty…
Reader’s answer
Question
Where does Shahrur employ Ghafir 3, what distinction does he connect to it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
Shahrur employs Ghafir 3 in the book «Islam and the Human Being» in the context of maintaining that sins committed against God fall within the possibility of forgiveness, with the exception of associating partners with God. For him, the function of the verse is to support this conclusion within an account that connects forgiveness to repentance, rather than to assert an unrestricted general idea about all sins.
Shahrur cites Ghafir 3 to show that sins committed against God are open to forgiveness, and he treats associating partners with God as an exception, basing that exception on other verses that he cites in the same passage.
Citation and location
Islam and the Human Being — location not specified.
Limits of the reading
- The location of the citation in the book is unspecified, so no page or chapter can be identified precisely.
- The citation does not establish that Ghafir 3 alone grounds all the details of a theory of repentance; rather, it is cited as part of a group of verses.
- The citation does not establish the characterization of the relationship as based on “God’s justice and mercy” as a complete interpretive formulation, although justice is mentioned at the end of an incomplete excerpt.
- The citation does not establish a detailed ruling concerning sins related to rights other than God’s; the explicit statement is confined to sins committed against God and the stated exception.
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Brief reading
It is cited to show that sin is open to forgiveness and repentance within the framework of God’s justice and mercy.
Axes
- Faith-based
- Human and ethical
Related concepts
- Forgiveness: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It supports the concept of repentance within a conception that brings together mercy and justice.
Role of the verse in the argument
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- Islam and the Human Being: It is cited to show that sin is open to forgiveness and repentance within the framework of God’s justice and mercy.
- Concept: forgiveness
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “As evidenced by His saying, Exalted is He: { Forgiver of sin and Accepter of repentance, severe in punishment, Possessor of bounty… } (Ghafir 3)”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.