This axis 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.
The verse text as cited
And [mention] when We made the House a place of return for the people and [a place of] security. And take, [O believers], from the standing place of Abraham a place of prayer. And We made a covenant with Abraham and Ishmael, [saying], “Purify My House for those who perform circumambulation and those who are staying [there] for worship and those who bow and prostrate.”
Brief reading
The verse is understood to mean that what was required was the purification of the existing House, not its creation from the beginning.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Legal
Related concepts
- 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 role of the verse in the argument
- Support: 1
- Foundation: 1
- Distinction: 1
Instances of use
- State and Society, p. 137: He employs it to say that what was required of Abraham and Ishmael was the purification of the House, not its creation from scratch.
- Concept: Purification of the House
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “We go back in its history, beginning with His — Exalted be He — saying: {And [mention] when We made the House a place of return … ‘Purify My House …‘} (al-Baqarah 125)”
- The corresponding traditional reading: the claim that Abraham founded the Kaaba from the beginning
- State and Society: He cites it as evidence 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 [mention] when We made the House a place of return for the people… ‘Purify My House…‘} (al-Baqarah 125)”
- The corresponding traditional reading: the exegetes imagined that “the foundations” are the foundations that must be raised for building.
- The Qur’anic Narrative vol. 2, p. 8: He distinguishes between purification and construction to say that the charge given to Abraham and Ishmael was to clean the existing House, not to erect it.
- Concept: Purification of the House
- Function of the verse here: Distinction
- Textual evidence: “{… And We made a covenant with Abraham and Ishmael, [saying], ‘Purify My House for those who perform circumambulation …‘} (al-Baqarah 125), and we understand that the divine charge was sent down to purify the House, not to build it”
- The corresponding traditional reading: the exegetes understood the command to mean building the House.
Related books
This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.