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.
Text of the Verse as Cited
{That was a community that has passed away; it will have what it earned, and you will have what you earned …}
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Qur’anic statement, “That was a community that has passed away; it will have what it earned, and you will have what you earned,” in reading Islamic history?
Shahrur employs the verse to call for reading the past, including Islamic history, as a history from which lessons are drawn, rather than as legislation binding on the present. The communities and persons who have passed away have their deeds, while those in the present are responsible for their own deeds; he therefore rejects turning the reading of history into sectarian contention or into the defense or condemnation of its figures. This does not mean, for him, neglecting history, but rather transcending it temporally and spatially in order to extract what benefits the present.
Shahrur explicitly states that the verse establishes a method for reading history: not stopping at it or turning it into legislation, but drawing lessons from it and moving beyond its temporal and spatial limits into the present. He links this method to rejecting a reading that fuels sectarian and confessional conflict by directing accusations at historical figures or rising to defend them.
Citation and Location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 405.
Limits of the Reading
- This is an account of Shahrur’s use of the verse in a method of reading history, not a presentation of a comprehensive interpretation of the verse in exegetical works.
- The selected citation discusses narratives and history generally, then extends the method to “the Muhammadan narratives”; thus, it does not by itself establish a detailed judgment concerning every event or every historical figure.
- In this account, the verse should not be made into evidence for an absolute prohibition on historical criticism; Shahrur calls for studying the historical process and drawing lessons, while rejecting the transformation of the past into legislation or an arena of sectarian alignment.
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Brief Reading
The verse is used to affirm that each generation bears its own responsibility, and that history is read for instruction rather than to impose upon the present.
Axes
- Methodological
- Narrative and historical
Related Concepts
- Independence of responsibility: 2
- Separation of history from the present: 2
- Historical line: 2
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It belongs to the network distinguishing historical memory from the contemporary position.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Context: 2
- Support: 1
Instances of Use
- The State and Society, p. 309: He uses it to close the door on the historical sanctification of the Companions and to shift attention to each generation’s responsibility for its deeds.
- Concept: Independence of responsibility
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “The saying of the Exalted applies to them: {That was a community that has passed away …} (Al-Baqarah 134).”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 405: He uses it to affirm that history should be read for instruction, not for judgment or sectarian invocation.
- Concept: Separation of history from the present
- Function of the verse here: Context
- Textual citation: “Keeping before us His saying, Exalted be He: {That was a community that has passed away; it will have what it earned, and you will have what you earned …} (Al-Baqarah 134 and 141).”
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 77: He uses it to justify viewing events historically rather than as a subject for judging persons or aligning with or against them.
- Concept: Historical line
- Function of the verse here: Context
- Textual citation: “For us: {That was a community that has passed away…} (Al-Baqarah 134).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.