This thematic entry gathers 1 locus where this verse is used in the writings of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The text of the verse as cited
Among them are those who, if you entrust them with a dinar, will not return it to you…
Reader’s answer
The question
How does Shahrur identify the position of Āl ʿImrān 75, what does the distinction within it mean, and what function does it serve in his argument?
Shahrur cites Āl ʿImrān 75 as a second piece of evidence, after Āl ʿImrān 20, in constructing a contrast between “those given the Book” and “the unlettered.” Within the verse, he identifies its two parties as Jews and Christians, then connects the expression “the unlettered” to the Jewish conception of the “goyim.”
Shahrur reads Āl ʿImrān 20 and Āl ʿImrān 75 together to establish that “those given the Book” are Jews and Christians, while all other people fall, in his view, under “the unlettered.” He identifies the parties mentioned in the two parts of Āl ʿImrān 75 as Jews in the example of the dinar and Christians in the example of the qintar, and he treats the rationale “there is no blame upon us concerning the unlettered” as evidence in his argument for the Jewish view of the “goyim” as lying outside the commandments binding upon them.
Source and location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 124.
Limits of the reading
- The citation does not state that Jews and Christians together regard others as “goyim”; Shahrur makes this connection specifically in his discussion of Jews.
- The citation does not establish, from this verse alone, an independent definition for every Qur’anic use of the word “the unlettered”; rather, Shahrur employs it within a joint reading of Āl ʿImrān 20 and 75.
- This page records Shahrur’s manner of employing the verse and does not elaborate an assessment of the validity of his specification of its two parties.
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Brief reading
Shahrur employs it together with its continuation to present his division of the People of the Book in contrast to the unlettered, and the view that Jews and Christians regard others as unlettered or goyim.
Themes
- Political and social
- Linguistic and semantic
Related concepts
- The unlettered: 2
- People of the Book: 1
- Jews: 1
- Christians: 1
- Goyim: 1
Its place in the conceptual network
It is connected to defining social relations among religious groups.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 1
Usage loci
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 124: He employs it together with its continuation to present his division of the People of the Book in contrast to the unlettered, and the view that Jews and Christians regard others as unlettered/goyim.
- Concept: The unlettered
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “This is also clear in verse 75 of Āl ʿImrān, when he mentioned the People of the Book—the Jews and Christians: among them, that is, the Jews, are those ‘who, if you entrust them with a dinar, will not return it to you.’”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.