Al-Baqarah 125

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This locus brings together 3 instances 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

And when We made the House a place of return for the people and a sanctuary: “Take the Station of Abraham as a place of prayer.” And We charged Abraham and Ishmael: “Purify My House for those who circumambulate, those who remain in devotion, and those who bow and prostrate.”

Reader’s Answer

Question

Does al-Baqarah 125, in Muhammad Shahrur’s reading, indicate that the House existed before Abraham and Ishmael?

Shahrur uses the verse to argue that the charge directed to Abraham and Ishmael was to “purify” the House, rather than to begin constructing it; he therefore infers that the House existed before their arrival. This is Shahrur’s own inference, not an indication conclusively established by the wording of the verse alone.

Shahrur cites al-Baqarah 125 because the command to Abraham and Ishmael in it is to purify the House for those who circumambulate, those who remain in devotion, and those who bow and prostrate. From the form of the command to purify, Shahrur constructs a historical inference: that the ancient sacred House existed before Abraham’s arrival, because the command was to purify it rather than to build it.

Evidence and Location

State and Society — p. 137.

Limits of the Reading

  • The evidence establishes the attribution of this inference to Shahrur in State and Society, p. 137; it does not provide an independent proof of the historical conclusion’s validity.
  • The quotation itself connects al-Baqarah 125 with al-Baqarah 127 and Abraham 37; the conclusion should therefore not be presented as though it were derived from the purification verse alone.
  • The available evidence does not independently explain the linguistic meaning of “purification,” nor does it specify the condition of the House before Abraham.

Continue from Here

Brief Reading

The verse is understood to mean that what was required was the purification of the existing House, not its construction from the outset.

Axes

  • Narrative and historical
  • Legislative
  • Purification of the House: 3
  • Purification: 2

Its Place in the Conceptual Network

It supports the conception of the ancient House as preceding the mission of Abraham and Ishmael.

The Verse’s Role in the Argument

  • Support: 1
  • Foundation: 1
  • Distinction: 1

Instances of Use

  • State and Society, p. 137: He uses it to argue that what was required of Abraham and Ishmael was to purify the House, not to create it from nothing.
    • Concept: Purification of the House
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual evidence: “We go back in its history, beginning with His—Exalted is He—saying: {And when We made the House a place of return … ‘Purify My House’ …} (al-Baqarah 125)”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: The view that Abraham founded the Kaaba from the beginning
  • State and Society: He infers from it that the command to Abraham and Ishmael was to purify the House, not to build it, thereby establishing the antiquity of the ancient House before Abraham’s arrival.
    • Concept: Purification
    • Function of the verse here: Foundation
    • Textual evidence: “{And when We made the House a place of return for the people … ‘Purify My House’ …} (al-Baqarah 125)”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: The exegetes imagined that the “foundations” were the bases that had to be raised for construction.
  • Qur’anic Narratives, Vol. 2, p. 8: He distinguishes between purification and construction in order to argue that Abraham and Ishmael were charged with cleaning the existing House, not erecting it.
    • Concept: Purification of the House
    • Function of the verse here: Distinction
    • Textual evidence: “{… And We charged Abraham and Ishmael: ‘Purify My House for those who circumambulate …’} (al-Baqarah 125), and we understand that the divine charge concerned purifying the House, not building it.”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: The exegetes understood the command as one to build the House.

This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas