This node brings together 1 instance of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
Say: He is God, One
Reader’s Answer
Question
Where does Shahrur cite the verse, what distinction does he draw from “Say,” and what function does it serve in his argument?
Shahrur cites the verse in The Book and the Qur’an, p. 64. He distinguishes between the imperative form when “Say” is present and the hypothetical declarative form when it is omitted; he treats the presence or absence of the verb as an indicator for determining the type of verse in the Wise Revelation.
Shahrur cites “Say: He is God, One” as the first verse of Surat al-Ikhlas in The Book and the Qur’an, p. 64. Shahrur distinguishes between the presence of “Say,” which makes the formulation an imperative, and its hypothetical omission, which makes the statement a declaration of God’s oneness. The example functions in his argument to show that the presence or absence of the verb “Say” is an important indicator for determining the type of verse in the Wise Revelation.
Evidence and Location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 64.
Limits of the Reading
- The evidence establishes the distinction between the imperative and declarative forms, and the function of this distinction in determining the type of verse, but it does not provide a full definition of the term “type of verse.”
- The evidence alone does not establish a detailed general rule for classifying all verses, nor an independent explanation of what it means to describe a form as “Qur’anic.”
- The omission here is an analytical hypothesis advanced by Shahrur in the cited passage, not a claim that anything is omitted from the text of the verse.
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Brief Reading
Shahrur uses it to show that the presence of “Say” turns the sentence into an imperative form and changes the type of signification.
Axes
- Linguistic and semantic
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- Imperative form: 2
- Say: 1
- Declarative signification: 1
- Type of verse: 1
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It serves the distinction between verbal structure and its semantic function.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Distinction: 1
Locations of Use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 64: He uses the example to show that the presence of “Say” transforms the sentence into a non-Qur’anic imperative form in terms of declarative signification, and that its omission changes the type of verse.
- Concept: Imperative form
- Function of the verse here: Distinction
- Textual evidence: “{Say: He is God, One} (al-Ikhlas 1)”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.