An-Na'am 38

3 min read

This axis gathers 5 places where this verse is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

The verse text as cited

There is no creature on earth, nor bird flying with its wings, אלא they are communities like you. We have not neglected anything in the Book; then to their Lord they will be gathered.

Brief reading

Shahrur relies on the verse to expand the meaning of the umma and link revelation to a comprehensiveness that goes beyond human beings alone.

Axes

  • Methodological
  • Narrative and historical
  • Umma: 5
  • The comprehensiveness of the Book: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

It enters into the construction of the concept of the umma and into indicating the extension of the Book’s signification.

The role of the verse in the argument

  • Foundational: 3
  • Support: 1
  • Example: 1

Summary of its presence in the atlas

  • Expanding the meaning of the umma
  • A comprehensiveness that goes beyond human beings
  • Its presence in the signification of the Book

Places of use

  • Islam and Man: He cites it to argue that the umma, in his view, is not humans only but every grouping with shared behavior, even among animals.
    • Concept: Umma
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “The term (communities) has been used … so that we find that He, عزّ وجلّ, applied it to cattle in His saying: { وَمَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ … } (An-Na’am 38).”
  • The State and Society, p. 73: He uses it to support the idea that revelation contains indications of the evolution of the Arabic language and its later stages.
    • Concept: The comprehensiveness of the Book
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual evidence: “In this way, we have laid our hands on one of the meanings of {مَا فَرْطَنَافِيَالْكِتَابِمِنْشَيْءٍ} (An-Na’am 38),”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 170: He cites it to broaden the concept of the umma to every group bound by a specific behavioral pattern.
    • Concept: Umma
    • Function of the verse here: Example
    • Textual evidence: “{وَمَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ… إِلَّا أُمَّةً…} (An-Na’am 38).”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 291: He takes it as a basis for defining the umma as a group of creatures brought together by a unified behavior.
    • Concept: Umma
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual evidence: “Because of His – تعالى – saying: {وَمَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ …} (An-Na’am 38).”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 291: He builds on it to define the umma as a group of creatures united by a single pattern of behavior, extending the concept to non-rational beings.
    • Concept: Umma
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual evidence: “Then there is His – تعالى – saying: {وَمَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ … إِلَّا أُمَمٌ أَمْثَالُكُمْ} (An-Na’am 38).”

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

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas