This thematic axis gathers 3 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
And those who disbelieve turn away from what they have been warned of.
Reader’s Answer
Question
Where does the verse occur in the cited evidence, how does Shahrur distinguish unbelief, and what function does the verse serve in his argument?
The verse occurs in a cited passage from A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation (p. 40). Shahrur uses it as support for linking unbelief to publicly expressed turning away, within his conception of unbelief as a conscious stance outwardly manifested in word or deed, rather than as a description of a merely inward, unannounced belief.
Shahrur defines unbelief as a conscious public stance, associating it with an outward expression in speech or action and with a hostile stance in the context he explains. He cites Al-Ahqaf 3 to support treating turning away from what one has been warned of as a manifestation of the unbelief he discusses, rather than as a merely inward, unexpressed state.
The Evidence and Its Location
A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation — p. 40.
Limits of the Reading
- The attached evidence establishes this use in A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 40; it does not establish that this use is attributable to the book Islam and Humanity.
- The evidence does not set forth a general definition encompassing every use of unbelief in the Qur’an; rather, it presents Shahrur’s distinction in this passage.
- The verse alone, without Shahrur’s accompanying explanation, does not indicate all the details of the distinction between unbelief and inward belief.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
The verse is used to establish that, for Shahrur, unbelief is understood as an outward practical turning away, not merely an inward stance.
Axes
- Faith-related
- Political and social
Related Concepts
- Turning away: 4
- Practical unbelief: 1
- Warning: 1
- Outward opposition: 1
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected with defining unbelief at the level of conduct and public confrontation.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 3
Contexts of Use
- Islam and Humanity: He uses it to link unbelief to practical turning away rather than merely inward belief.
- Concept: turning away
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “{ … And those who disbelieve turn away from what they have been warned of. } (Al-Ahqaf 3)”
- Islam and Humanity: He makes turning away an example of how unbelief, for him, is an outward stance and conduct, not merely an internal belief.
- Concept: turning away
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “Whereas we find polytheism to be the language of one’s state—that is, a conviction—we find unbelief to be the language of explicit statement—that is, conduct and a hostile stance… { … And those who disbelieve turn away from what they have been warned of. } (Al-Ahqaf 3)”
- A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 40: He uses it to affirm that unbelief, for him, is a public stance of opposition and turning away from the warning.
- Concept: turning away
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “{ … And those who disbelieve turn away from what they have been warned of. } (Al-Ahqaf 3).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.