Aal Imran 132

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This verse recurs in Shahrur’s project because it links obedience with mercy, and helps him distinguish between religious obedience and political obedience. It is central for him because it makes responding to the message an act of mercy, not one of authoritarian submission.

The verse as cited

And obey God and the Messenger, that you may be shown mercy.

Brief reading

Shahrur understands the verse to mean that obedience to God and the Messenger is tied to receiving mercy, and that it remains within the framework of the message and of what the Messenger conveyed as legislation. From here, he uses it to separate religious obedience, which brings mercy, from other forms of obedience that belong to different domains.

Axes

  • Faith
  • Legislative
  • Political and social
  • Obedience: 5
  • Mercy through obedience: 2
  • Mercy: 2
  • Obedience to the Messenger: 2

Its position in the network of concepts

The verse is linked to obedience, mercy, and obedience to the Messenger. It is central because it regulates the place of obedience in his project, prevents mixing it with political obedience, and links it to the station of the message rather than to authority in absolute terms.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Support: 4
  • Grounding: 2
  • Distinction: 1

Summary of its presence in the atlas

  • Obedience is a path to mercy
  • Distinguishing the religious from the political
  • Its presence is fixed in the station of the message

Places of use

  • Islam and the Human Being: He makes it a basis for the obligation to follow the Prophet ﷺ in the duties that concern those who believe in him.
    • Concept: obedience
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual evidence: «{ وَأَطِيعُوا اللهَ وَالرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ } (Aal Imran 132)»
  • Islam and Faith, p. 86: He uses it to affirm that obedience is a path to mercy, not coerced submission.
    • Concept: mercy through obedience
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual evidence: «{ وَأَطِيعُوا اللهَ وَالرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ } (Aal Imran 132),»
  • State and Society, p. 21: He places it alongside others to distinguish obedience tied to God and the Messenger from political obedience to the holder of authority.
    • Concept: obedience
    • Function of the verse here: distinction
    • Textual evidence: «{وَأَطِيعُوا اللهَ وَالرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ} (Aal Imran 132),»
    • The corresponding traditional reading: merging the obedience connected to God and His Messenger with the separate obedience owed to the holder of authority
  • The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna, p. 87: He cites it among the connected proofs of obedience to show that following the Messenger in the message is a cause for receiving mercy.
    • Concept: mercy
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual evidence: «{وَأَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ} Aal Imran 132.»
  • A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 41: He builds on it to argue that the Book of the Message admits obedience and disobedience, and that obedience in it is to the divine law as conveyed.
    • Concept: obedience to the Messenger
    • Function of the verse here: grounding
    • Textual evidence: «{ وَأَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ } (Aal Imran 132)»
  • A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 41: He cites it to prove that the Book of the Message includes a field of obedience and disobedience within the legislative system.
    • Concept: obedience
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual evidence: «The Book of the Message, in its decisive verses and detailed exposition, admits obedience and disobedience, according to the saying of God تعالى: { وَأَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ … } (Aal Imran 132)»
  • Towards New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 135: He makes it the decisive verse governing connected obedience, that is, obedience to the message continuing after the death of the Messenger.
    • Concept: obedience
    • Function of the verse here: grounding
    • Textual evidence: «We read His – تعالى – saying: { وَأَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ } (Aal Imran 132),»

This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas