This axis gathers 2 instances of Shahrur’s use of this verse in his books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

The verse text as cited

{ O you who believe, when you encounter those who disbelieve advancing in battle, do not turn your backs to them }

Brief reading

The verse is read as evidence that unbelief here denotes a hostile wartime stance, not an absolute doctrinal description.

Axes

  • Political and social
  • Methodological
  • Wartime unbelief: 2
  • Unbelief: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

It helps distinguish meaning according to the political and military context.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Context: 1
  • Distinction: 1

Instances of use

  • A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 40: He makes it evidence that the description of unbelief changes in the context of war into a description of the hostile stance exchanged between the parties.
    • Concept: wartime unbelief
    • Function of the verse here: context
    • Textual citation: «{ O you who believe, when you encounter those who disbelieve advancing in battle… } (Anfal 15).»
  • A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 41: He uses the verse to indicate that unbelief here is a hostile wartime stance between two warring sides, not an absolute doctrinal description.
    • Concept: unbelief
    • Function of the verse here: distinction
    • Textual citation: «God Almighty said to the believers among the followers of the Messenger about their opponents who had fought them: { … do not turn your backs to them } (Anfal 15). And even the Battle of the Camel took place between two unbelieving factions»

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