This axis brings together 1 locus where this verse is used in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
{Obey God and His Messenger, and do not dispute, lest you fail and your strength depart; and be patient—indeed, God is with the patient.}
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Qur’an 8:46 in his discussion of disputation and solidarity?
Shahrur employs the verse as a prohibition of disputation that leads to failure and the loss of strength, and, together with the verse of al-Saff, treats it as evidence of the merit of solidarity and mutual support. He does not confine this meaning to combat; rather, at the level of the reading he presents, he extends it to all other affairs of life and to agreement on goals and the means of attaining them.
Shahrur cites Qur’an 8:46 in his discussion of “division and fragmentation.” He understands disputation as the opposite of concord, and as leading to failure and loss, adding ruin and destruction to its consequences. Shahrur holds that Qur’an 8:46, together with Qur’an 61:4, demonstrates the merit of solidarity and mutual support not only in combat but also in other affairs of life.
Citation and Location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 109.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation establishes Shahrur’s use of the verse in criticizing division and calling for solidarity, but it does not offer an independent, detailed explanation of the verse’s wording or its Qur’anic context.
- The description of the effects of disputation as “ruin and destruction” occurs in Shahrur’s interpretive formulation; the text of the verse cited mentions failure and the departure of strength.
- The pairing of the verse with the verse of al-Saff and the verse of holding fast in the passage should not be converted into a direct textual relationship among the verses; what is established is that Shahrur brought them together in his argument.
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Brief Reading
Shahrur cites it to affirm that disputation corrupts combat and leads to failure and ruin.
Axes
- Political and social
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- Non-disputation: 2
- Combat: 1
- Failure: 1
- Ruin: 1
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It contributes to defining the conditions of the community and its cohesion in times of conflict.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Support: 1
Loci of Use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 109: He cites it to affirm that disputation corrupts combat and leads to failure and ruin.
- Concept: Non-disputation
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “And He—exalted is He—says: {Obey God and His Messenger, and do not dispute, lest you fail…} (al-Anfal 46).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.