This axis brings together 2 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 if any of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the speech of God; then convey him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know
Reader’s answer
Question
How does Shahrur employ Qur’an 9:6 in his discussion of the Wise Revelation and its understanding?
Shahrur uses the verse’s phrase, “so that he may hear the speech of God,” to establish that the Wise Revelation is “the speech of God.” He then builds upon this description a methodological claim: that the keys to understanding the Revelation are found in the text itself, so that nothing external to it is needed to understand it. For him, the verse is a starting point for defining the Revelation, while the assertion of its self-sufficiency is a conclusion Shahrur derives from this definition, not a statement explicitly made by the verse itself.
The verse describes what is heard as “the speech of God,” in the context of granting protection to one of the polytheists until he hears it and then conveying him to safety. Shahrur employs the description of the Revelation as “the speech of God” to argue that the Wise Revelation is self-sufficient and that the keys to understanding it lie within it; he calls this “the detailing of the Book.”
Citation and location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 250.
Limits of the reading
- In its wording and immediate context, the verse concerns granting protection, hearing the speech of God, and then ensuring the safety of the one seeking protection; it does not explicitly set out a complete theory of the sources for understanding the text.
- The citation should not be turned into a claim that the verse alone negates every role for historical context, heritage, or interpretive languages; that goes beyond the implication of the evidence.
- Shahrur himself connects the understanding of terms to an epistemological method and to the reader’s cognitive tools. Thus, “self-sufficiency” for him does not necessarily mean that every individual reading of the text is correct or self-sufficient.
Continue from here
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism
- The Stability of the Text and the Changeability of Understanding
- The Method of Reading and Renewed Interpretation
- Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation
Brief reading
The verse is invoked to define the Revelation as God’s speech, understood from within itself.
Axes
- Methodological
- Faith-based
Related concepts
- Speech of God: 3
Its place in the conceptual network
It is connected to the methodological principle of reading the text from within itself.
Role of the verse in the argument
- Foundational: 1
- Supporting: 1
Atlas pages referring to this verse
These links gather the pages that rely on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.
Related claim atoms
Related clusters
Instances of use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 250: He relies on it to define the Wise Revelation as the self-sufficient speech of God, which is heard before safe passage is granted and understood from within itself.
- Concept: Speech of God
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual citation: “{And if any of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection…} (Al-Tawbah 6)”
- Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 15: He adduces it as evidence that the Revelation is God’s own speech and that its understanding must proceed from within it, not from outside it.
- Concept: Speech of God
- Function of the verse here: Supporting
- Textual citation: “{And if any of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the speech of God} (Al-Tawbah 6).”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.