This axis brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The text of the verse as cited
And why should you not eat of that over which the name of God has been mentioned …
Reader’s answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur read the Almighty’s statement, ﴿He has detailed for you what He has forbidden to you, except what you are compelled to [eat]﴾, and what does he build upon it in matters of food and prohibition?
Shahrur cites the verse as evidence that prohibited foods have been set out in detail, and that the exception mentioned in it concerns a state of necessity. In the direct evidence, he connects it to al-An’am 145 and maintains that the text of the verse does not “close the minimum limit” of prohibited foods in the way he sees it doing for prohibited marriages. However, extending the verse on its own into a comprehensive rule for all areas of legislation is not what this specific evidence establishes.
Shahrur presents al-An’am 119 as an affirmation that prohibited foods have been detailed, connecting it to the list of prohibitions stated in al-An’am 145. He understands the exception in the verse—﴿except what you are compelled to [eat]﴾—in the context of food, and contrasts this area with prohibited marriages in terms of what he calls “closing the minimum limit.”
Evidence and location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 412.
Limits of the reading
- The most precise evidence from The Book and the Qur’an concerns prohibited foods and connects the verse with al-An’am 145; therefore, without additional evidence, it should not be turned into a detailed proposition about all areas of the lawful and unlawful.
- The phrase “the default is permissibility” is not formulated in these exact words in the direct evidence; what is established there is Shahrur’s discussion of the detailing of prohibited foods and of not closing their minimum limit as in marriage.
- The evidence from Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence explicitly restricts the right to prohibit to God, but the excerpt itself does not explain the structure of prohibited foods to the same extent as the other evidence; it is therefore a supporting contextual link, not a substitute for the direct evidence.
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Brief reading
The verse affirms that prohibitions are specified and detailed, and that the default is permissibility, while prohibition remains within a narrow scope.
Axes
- Legislative
- Methodological
Related concepts
- Detailing of prohibitions: 2
- Prohibition: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It is connected to defining the sphere of prohibition and restricting it within a clear legislative methodology.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 2
Instances of use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 412: He uses it to affirm that prohibitions are specified and detailed, and that the default is permissibility rather than expansive prohibition.
- Concept: Detailing of prohibitions
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “He has affirmed the detailing of what has been forbidden to us of foods by His statement, exalted is He: {And why should you not eat of that over which the name of God has been mentioned …} (al-An’am 119).”
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 107: He employs it to establish that prohibitions are detailed and restricted, and that the exception applies only to food in cases of necessity.
- Concept: Prohibition
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “- {And He has detailed for you what He has forbidden to you, except what you are compelled to [eat]} (al-An’am 119).”
Related books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.