Al Imran 145

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This axis brings together 3 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

The Verse Text as Cited

No soul may die except by God’s permission, at a term appointed in writing.

Reader’s Answer

The Question

How does Muhammad Shahrur read the Almighty’s statement: “No soul may die except by God’s permission, at a term appointed in writing”?

Shahrur reads the verse as describing death as an “appointed writing”: that is, a phenomenon with multiple causes and components, and death—in his account—occurs only when its components come together. He connects this to the objective laws governing life on earth, holding that human beings can postpone some of its causes through their ability to deal with surrounding circumstances, rather than eliminate the phenomenon of death itself.

Shahrur employs the verse to explain death as a “Book” with multiple causes, components, and possibilities, postponed until those components come together. Shahrur links this understanding to what he calls the “objective laws” that God has established for the earth, citing diseases, accidents, disasters, and wars as examples of possible causes of death.

Citation and Location

Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 19.

Limits of the Reading

  • The reading presented here is Shahrur’s use of the verse, not a statement of its general or sole exegetical meaning.
  • The expression “by God’s permission” is present in the text of the verse, but the principal citation focuses in its explanation on causes, components, and objective laws, and does not offer an independent analysis of the meaning of “permission.”
  • Shahrur’s claim that death can be postponed is qualified by his phrase, “according to human beings’ will and their ability to control the things around them”; it does not mean denying death or exercising absolute control over it.

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Brief Reading

For Shahrur, the verse establishes that death is connected to a specified term governed by laws and conditions, and that the soul dies by God’s permission, not arbitrarily.

Axes

  • Methodological
  • Faith-related
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • The appointed term: 3
  • The soul: 2
  • Deferred death: 1
  • Written laws: 1

Its Place in the Conceptual Network

It is connected to the idea of the appointed term as a law, and to the distinction of the material soul within the framework of the contemporary reading.

The Verse’s Role in the Argument

  • Support: 2
  • Foundation: 1

Contexts of Use

  • Islam and Faith, p. 44: He cites it to affirm that death is an appointed writing governed by objective conditions, like other written laws.
    • Concept: the appointed term
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual citation: “{No soul may die … except by God’s permission, at a term appointed in writing …} (Al Imran 145).”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 19: He explains through it that death is deferred until its causes come together; it is a “Book” in the sense of a law with conditions.
    • Concept: the appointed term
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual citation: “{No soul may die except by God’s permission, at a term appointed in writing} (Al Imran 145)”
  • Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 60: He defines the material soul as that which dies by God’s permission at a specified term.
    • Concept: the soul
    • Function of the verse here: foundation
    • Textual citation: “From the material standpoint, it is every living being … and it is the soul that death befalls, according to the Almighty’s statement: {No soul may die …} (Al Imran 145).”

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

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas