This entry brings together 1 instance of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
{Say: To God belongs the conclusive argument; had He willed, He would have guided you all}
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Shahrur employ Al-An’am 149, and what distinction does he draw in it between guidance through argument and other forms of guidance?
Shahrur places the verse within what he calls guidance through argument and evidence: a guidance based neither on coercion nor on foundational guidance through creation, and links it to the use of evidence, logic, and freedom of choice.
Shahrur regards Al-An’am 149 as evidence for a mode of guidance through argument and evidence, distinguishing it from coercion and from foundational guidance through creation. He interprets argument and evidence as God’s signs and words that point to Him, associating them with induction, deduction, and the use of logic and truth.
Evidence and Location
State and Society — p. 298.
Limits of the Reading
- The evidence does not establish that the verse alone grounds a general theory of the state or society; its immediate context is Shahrur’s division of the modes of guidance.
- The evidence does not state an independent technical definition of the word “distinction”; what is intended here is the distinction explicitly made between guidance through argument, coercion, and foundational guidance through creation.
- This evidence does not address the details of the relationship between argument and legal or political obligation.
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Brief Reading
It makes it a basis for guidance founded on proof and reason, rather than coercion.
Themes
- Methodological
- Faith-related
Related Concepts
- Argument and evidence: 2
- Guidance through reason: 1
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It forms part of a framework linking guidance to argument rather than compulsion.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Foundational: 1
Instances of Use
- State and Society, p. 298: He makes it the basis of the third form of guidance, namely guidance founded on proof and reason rather than coercion.
- Concept: argument and evidence
- Function of the verse here: foundational
- Textual evidence: “3—Guidance through argument and evidence, without coercion… This is what God—glory be to Him—intended for humankind in His saying: {Say: To God belongs the conclusive argument; had He willed, He would have guided you all} (Al-An’am 149).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.