Al-A‘raf 157

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This verse recurs in Shahrur’s project because it is among the texts through which he brings together mercy, easing, and the lifting of prior burdens. It is central for him because it supports his understanding of the Muhammadan message as a message of facilitation and the removal of burdens.

Verse text as cited

… AND MAKES LAWFUL FOR THEM THE GOOD THINGS AND FORBIDS THEM THE BAD THINGS…

Brief reading

Shahrur understands the verse as a description of the nature of the message: it makes good things lawful, forbids bad things, and removes from people their shackles and burdens. He therefore makes it one of the most important texts through which he reads lawfulness and prohibition within the message, linking them to the purpose of easing rather than severity.

Axes

  • Faith
  • Legislative
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • the good and the bad: 2
  • mercy: 2
  • ummiyyah: 2
  • lifting burdens: 2
  • lawful and unlawful: 2
  • easing: 1
  • message: 1

Its place in the network of concepts

The verse is connected to the good and the bad, mercy, the lifting of burdens, and lawful and unlawful. It is central because it gives his project a framework for reading the final message as easing and liberation, not as the addition of new burdens.

The role of the verse in the argument

  • Support: 6
  • Foundation: 1

Summary of its presence in the atlas

  • The message is mercy and easing
  • The lifting of burdens from earlier laws
  • Its presence is clear in lawful and unlawful

Pages in the atlas that point to this verse

These links gather the pages that rely on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.

Points of use

  • Islam and the Human Being: He cites it to argue that the lawful is what is wholesome for the soul and human nature, and that the bad things correspond to human values.
    • Concept: the good and the bad
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: «{ … وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمْ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ … } (Al-A‘raf 157)»
  • The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought, p. 26: He uses it to highlight that the Muhammadan message came to lessen the burdens and coercions that existed in earlier laws.
    • Concept: mercy
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: «{… وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَالْأَغْلَالَ …} (Al-A‘raf 157)»
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 124: He uses it to affirm that “ummi” here does not mean illiterate in the scriptural sense, but rather that he was neither Jewish nor Christian, while nevertheless being mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel.
    • Concept: ummiyyah
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: «{الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ…} (Al-A‘raf 157).»
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 384: He makes it evidence that the Muhammadan message came to lift previous legislative burdens and replace them with alternative rulings.
    • Concept: lifting burdens
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: «{الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ … وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَالْأَغْلَالَ…} (Al-A‘raf 157). فإذا ما تأملنا في التنزيل الحكيم، رأينا فيه الأحكام البديلة للآيات المنسأة»
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, pp. 126-137: He cites it to show that the messenger, in his message, made things lawful and unlawful within the scope of the message, not as a private individual.
    • Concept: lawful and unlawful
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: «{ … يَأْمُرُهُمْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَاهُمْ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ … } (Al-A‘raf 157)»
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 137: He makes this verse the basis for understanding lawfulness and prohibition as part of Muhammad’s message, not of his person, and links it to freeing followers from burdens and shackles.
    • Concept: the message
    • Function of the verse here: Foundation
    • Textual evidence: «فالطيبات التي أحلها الرسول والخبائث التي حرمها هي من ضمن ما يضع الإصر والأغلال عن أتباع التوراة والإنجيل»

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

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Backlinks3

Muhammad Shahrur Atlas