This axis brings together 3 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking them to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
So give full measure and weight
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Qur’anic statement, “So give full measure and weight,” in al-A’raf 85?
Shahrur employs the verse as part of Shuʿayb’s message, making the giving of full measure and weight, together with the prohibition against depriving people of what is theirs and spreading corruption, part of that message’s content. Elsewhere, he also cites the verse within a group of verses concerning weight, measure, and fraud in measurement. However, the available evidence alone is insufficient to establish that Shahrur set forth here a complete theory of this principle as a “shared ethical and legislative value among all messages.”
Shahrur attributes to Shuʿayb’s message the command to give full measure and weight, the prohibition against depriving people of what is theirs, and the prohibition against spreading corruption on earth, citing al-A’raf 85.
Evidence and Location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 122.
Limits of the Reading
- The excerpt from “Islam and Faith” presents the verse within a list of texts, but within its available limits it does not explicitly state that giving full measure and weight is a principle “shared among the messages,” nor does it describe it as an encompassing ancient legislation.
- The excerpt from “The Book and the Qur’an” explicitly states that this is part of Shuʿayb’s message, but it cuts off at the beginning of Shahrur’s discussion of the meaning of corruption and reform; therefore, details of that discussion should not be attributed to this passage without fuller evidence.
- An independent relationship cannot be inferred merely from the occurrence of the terms measure and weight in multiple verses; the established link is that Shahrur grouped them together in a list in the first source.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
The verse is used to ground the principle of giving full measure and weight as an ancient ethical and legislative value connected with reform.
Axes
- Human and ethical
- Legislative
- Narrative and historical
Related Concepts
- Fulfillment: 2
- Giving full measure: 2
- Reform: 2
- Shuʿayb: 1
- Weight: 1
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to Shuʿayb’s message as practical legislation rather than mere exhortation.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Support: 1
- Foundation: 1
- Example: 1
Instances of Use
- Islam and Faith, p. 77: he cites it within a series of texts that make giving full measure and weight among the ethical commandments shared by the messages.
- Concept: Fulfillment
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “{… SO GIVE FULL MEASURE AND WEIGHT…} (al-A’raf 85).”
- Islam and Faith, p. 77: he links it to Shuʿayb in order to affirm that this principle is an ancient foundational one in the messages.
- Concept: Giving full measure
- Function of the verse here: Foundation
- Textual evidence: “- {… SO GIVE FULL MEASURE AND WEIGHT…} (al-A’raf 85).”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 122: he uses it to state that Shuʿayb’s message consisted of practical legislation connected to economic and social reform, rather than mere moral exhortation.
- Concept: Reform
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual evidence: “Shuʿayb’s message was in the Qur’anic statement {.. SO GIVE FULL MEASURE AND WEIGHT, AND DO NOT DEPRIVE…}”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.