al-Baqara 61

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This axis brings together 3 places where this verse is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that surround it.

The verse text as quoted

Humiliation and misery were stamped upon them, and they incurred wrath from God. That was because they used to disbelieve in the signs of God

Brief reading

In Shahrur’s work, the verse appears in the context of criticizing the reading that makes the reason for revelation govern meaning, because it is used to negate predestinarianism and preserve divine justice.

Axes

  • Methodological
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Faith-related

Associated concepts

  • Predestinarianism: 2
  • Humiliation and misery: 2
  • Divine justice: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

It is linked to the network of concepts that balances historical narrative with the principle of justice in understanding the text.

The role of the verse in the argument

  • Critique of the tradition: 3

Places of use

  • The Qur’anic Narrative vol. 1, p. 83: He cites it to show that interpreting the reason for revelation in a way that obliges people to predefined roles produces predestinarianism that contradicts divine justice.
    • Concept: Predestinarianism
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of the tradition
    • Textual evidence: “Now that he has done so, by virtue of the words of God Most High, {Humiliation and misery were stamped upon them …} (al-Baqara: 61), is this not a predestinarianism that wounds divine justice”
    • The corresponding traditional reading: The statement attributed here makes the Jews’ act a preordained cause for the revelation of the surah.
  • The Qur’anic Narrative vol. 2, p. 83: He uses it to criticize the report attributed to reasons of revelation, arguing that attributing inspiration to the Jews leads to predestinarianism that impinges on divine justice.
    • Concept: Humiliation and misery
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of the tradition
    • Textual evidence: “By virtue of the words of God Most High, {Humiliation and misery were stamped upon them, and they incurred wrath from God …} (al-Baqara: 61)”
    • The corresponding traditional reading: The reason for the revelation of Surat al-Ikhlas was the request of the Jews
  • The Qur’anic Narrative vol. 2, p. 83: He deploys the verse to argue that attributing the reason for revelation to the Jews’ question turns divinity into a form of compulsion that contradicts divine justice.
    • Concept: Divine justice
    • Function of the verse here: Critique of the tradition
    • Textual evidence: “Now that he has done so, by virtue of the words of God Most High, {Humiliation and misery were stamped upon them, and they incurred wrath from God; that was because they used to disbelieve in the signs of God} (al-Baqara: 61)”
    • The corresponding traditional reading: The claim that the Jews’ question was the reason for the revelation of Surat al-Ikhlas and the humiliation and wrath that followed.

This page is presented within the general method of atlas construction.

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