This axis gathers 1 instance of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the verse as cited
And among them are unlettered people who do not know the Book except wishful thinking, and they do nothing but conjecture.
Reader’s answer
Question
Where does the verse stand in Shahrur’s argument, what does “the unlettered” mean for him, and what function does it serve in his case?
Shahrur cites Al-Baqarah 78 together with Al-Jumu‘ah 2 as a prelude to defining “ummi.” In the attached passage, he presents it as evidence for the Jews’ and Christians’ use of the term for those who do not adhere to their religion, and links this description to ignorance of the rulings and prophecies contained in their Book; he therefore does not restrict it here to the meaning of inability to read and write.
Shahrur places Al-Baqarah 78 among two verses that precede his beginning to explain the meaning of the term “ummi.” He presents “ummi” as a term applied by Jews and Christians to those who do not adhere to their religion, rather than as merely a description of reading and writing ability. Shahrur connects this usage with these people’s ignorance of the rulings and prophecies found in the Book of the Jews and Christians; thus, in this context, Al-Baqarah 78 functions as evidence in constructing his proposed definition of the term.
Evidence and location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 124.
Limits of the reading
- The excerpt does not provide a complete final definition of the term after the phrase, “Hence came the term ummi, which means.”
- The excerpt establishes Shahrur’s presentation of this meaning in the context of the two cited verses, but it is not by itself sufficient to establish his ruling on every occurrence of “ummi” and “ummiyyun” in the Qur’an.
- The attached material does not establish an interpretive relationship with other verses merely because they share the term “ummiyyun.”
- Describing the verse as “another proof” in the page data is an editorial summary; the excerpt itself establishes its inclusion among the verses from which Shahrur proceeds to define the term.
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Brief reading
He treats it as evidence that the ummi is one who is ignorant of the Book of the Jews and Christians—that is, outside their religious knowledge.
Axes
- Linguistic and semantic
- Theological
Related concepts
- Illiteracy: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It connects the linguistic definition of illiteracy with the boundaries of religious knowledge.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 124: He treats it as further evidence that the ummi is one who is ignorant of the Book of the Jews and Christians—that is, outside their religious knowledge.
- Concept: Illiteracy
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “{And among them are unlettered people who do not know the Book except wishful thinking…} (Al-Baqarah 78).”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.