Muhammad 4

4 min read

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

So when you meet those who disbelieve, strike their necks, until, when you have thoroughly subdued them, bind them firmly; then either release them by grace afterward or for ransom, until the war lays down its burdens.

Reader’s answer

Question

How does Muhammad Shahrur read Muhammad 4 with regard to prisoners of war and slavery?

Shahrur uses the verse to argue that capture in war is not a legitimate source of slavery; he reads the command following the binding of captives as a transition to release by grace or ransom, rather than to retaining captives as slaves. This is a conclusion attributed to his reading of the text, not a ruling presented here as an agreed-upon interpretation.

Shahrur attributes to Muhammad 4 the abolition of treating capture in wars as a source of slavery, in contrast to what he describes as the persistence of this view in inherited jurisprudence.

Evidence and location

The State and Society — p. 262.

Limits of the reading

  • The available excerpt explicitly attributes the abolition of capture as a source of slavery to the “Wise Revelation,” and cites Muhammad 4 in the same passage, but it breaks off at the phrase “Thus, captives are to be dealt with according to…”. The page therefore does not reproduce the continuation of his exact wording or claim that it is documented in this excerpt.
  • The statement that “release by grace or ransom are the norm” explains Shahrur’s manner of inference from the wording of the verse; it is not a complete quotation from the available evidence.
  • This page does not establish that this understanding is the only interpretation of the verse or that it is a matter of juridical consensus.

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Brief reading

The verse is used to close off the possibility of turning captives into slaves and to make release by grace or ransom the norm for dealing with them.

Axes

  • Legislative
  • Political and social
  • Captives: 3
  • Release by grace: 1
  • Ransom: 1
  • Rejection of slavery: 1

Its place in the conceptual network

It is connected to the concept of captives and to the limits of legislation during and after war.

Role of the verse in the argument

  • Critique of tradition: 1
  • Support: 1

Instances of use

  • The State and Society, p. 262: He adduces it to argue that the Qur’an confined the treatment of captives to release by grace or ransom, thereby denying that capture remains a legitimate source of slavery.
    • Concept: captives
    • Function of the verse here: critique of tradition
    • Textual evidence: “And it was clear in settling this matter: {So when you meet those who disbelieve …} (Muhammad 4), for captives are to be dealt with in one of two ways: {then either release by grace} … or {for ransom}.”
    • Opposing traditional reading: treating capture in wars as one of the sources of slavery
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 231: He uses it to reject turning captives into slaves, making release by grace or ransom, rather than slavery, the norm in dealing with them.
    • Concept: captives
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual evidence: “God—Exalted is He—has laid down the policy for dealing with them on the basis of: {then either release by grace afterward or for ransom} (Muhammad 4).”

This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas