This locus brings together 3 instances of the use of these verses in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking them to the concepts and arguments that appear around them.
Text of the Verse as Cited
Say, “Come, I will recite to you what your Lord has forbidden to you…”
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur read Al-An’am 151–152, and what function does he assign to the list of prohibitions and injunctions they contain?
Shahrur reads the verses as a presentation of prohibited ethical values, which he calls “the Ten Commandments,” and regards them as values shared by the messages of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. In his account, the verses include the prohibition of associating partners with God, killing, and indecencies, as well as the command to act benevolently, justly, and faithfully; they then describe this path as “My straight path.”
Shahrur presents what appears in Al-An’am 151–152 as “the Ten Commandments,” or a list of ethical prohibitions, rather than merely disparate rulings. He holds that these prohibitions represent values shared by the messages of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad.
Evidence and Location
Islam and Faith — p. 18.
Limits of the Reading
- The evidence establishes Shahrur’s description of the verses as a list of prohibitions/injunctions and values shared among the messages, but it does not establish that this list alone is the criterion of “righteous action” or that it encompasses all his criteria.
- Another item among the evidence cites a different count of the prohibitions (“fourteen,” while mentioning nine in Al-An’am); therefore, this record alone does not settle the question of the number or Shahrur’s final method of counting.
- The attribution of a shift from “injunctions” in previous messages to “prohibitions” in the Muhammadan message appears in another piece of evidence, but it is not necessary for explaining the basic function of the verses here.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
The two verses establish a list of prohibitions and ethical injunctions upon which the criteria of righteous action are built in Shahrur’s reading.
Axes
- Legislative
- Human and ethical
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- prohibitions: 2
- injunction: 2
- prohibitions: 1
- righteous action: 1
- list of prohibitions: 1
Place in the Network of Concepts
They are connected with laying a foundation prior to the formulation of prohibitions in the Muhammadan message.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Foundational: 2
- Supporting: 1
Instances of Use
- Islam and the Human Being: He makes them a reference list for the ten/fourteen prohibitions upon which he builds righteous action.
- Concept: prohibitions
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual evidence: “{ Say, ‘Come, I will recite to you what your Lord has forbidden to you …’ } (Al-An’am 151–152)”
- Islam and Faith, p. 18: He relies on them to establish the list of prohibitions as part of righteous action and a foundation of Islam.
- Concept: prohibitions
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual evidence: “{ Say, ‘Come, I will recite to you what your Lord has forbidden to you …’ } (Al-An’am 151–152).”
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 153: He cites them to demonstrate that the ethical commands at this stage were formulated as injunctions before being framed as prohibitions in the Muhammadan message.
- Concept: injunction
- Function of the verse here: Supporting
- Textual evidence: “{ This is what He has enjoined upon you, so that you may understand } (Al-An’am 151, 152)”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.