This axis brings together 1 instance of the use of this verse in the works of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
He is the One who takes you in death by night and knows what you have done by day; then He raises you therein, so that an appointed term may be fulfilled. Then to Him is your return, and then He will inform you of what you used to do.
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Qur’an 6:60 in his interpretation of the idea of resurrection?
Shahrur employs the verse as a lived example that makes the possibility of resurrection more accessible: “taking in death by night” is followed by “resurrection” in the context of sleep and waking, and he holds that the recurrence of this daily experience makes resurrection intelligible as an objective reality rather than an imaginary matter.
Shahrur associates sleep with temporary death and presents waking as an approximate example for understanding resurrection. The cited passage explicitly links this analogy to Qur’an 6:60, quoting it after stating that sleep is an example repeated daily and that it brings the process of resurrection closer to the mind.
Citation and Location
The State and Society — p. 99.
Limits of the Reading
- The cited passage does not offer a detailed linguistic interpretation of the verse’s terms, nor does it establish that “resurrection” in it refers exclusively to resurrection on the Day of Judgment; rather, it uses the verse as an approximate example in its argument about resurrection.
- The argument begins with Qur’an 39:42 in comparing sleep and death, then cites Qur’an 6:60 to affirm the daily recurrence of the experience of sleep and waking.
- The cited passage does not establish further details concerning the appointed term, return, or reckoning mentioned in the verse.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
Shahrur uses it to bring the meaning of resurrection closer through the daily experience of sleep, presenting it as reality rather than fantasy.
Axes
- Faith
- Narrative and History
Related Concepts
- Resurrection: 2
- Sleep: 1
- Objective reality: 1
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It enters the network of establishing resurrection through analogy with a familiar, perceptible experience.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 1
Instances of Use
- The State and Society, p. 99: He uses it to bring resurrection on the Day of Judgment closer through the daily resurrection of sleep, maintaining that it is an objective reality rather than fantasy.
- Concept: Resurrection
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “As clarified by His—Exalted is He—saying: {He is the One who takes you in death by night … then raises you therein}”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.