This locus brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking them to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
Inform My servants that I am indeed the Forgiving, the Merciful.
Reader’s Answer
Question
Where does Al-Hijr 49 occur, how does Shahrur distinguish in it between nabaʾ (tidings) and khabar (information), and what function does it serve in his argument?
The verse occurs in Al-Hijr 49. Shahrur deploys it after establishing that the prophet is a bearer of tidings rather than information, and that tidings belong to the unseen; he thus links the command to inform the servants that God is unseen in relation to the prophet, and to the denial that he is a witness to God’s forgiveness and mercy.
Shahrur presents Al-Hijr 49 as a command to the prophet to inform the servants that God is the Forgiving, the Merciful. He distinguishes between the prophet as bearer of tidings and the informer as bearer of information, maintaining that tidings belong to the unseen. Shahrur makes Al-Hijr 49 part of his argument that God is unseen in relation to the prophet, and that the prophet is not a witness to God’s forgiveness and mercy but rather a shāhid (witness).
Citation and Location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 82.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation does not establish that the phrase “the station of prophethood” is Shahrur’s terminology in this passage, although it does connect the prophet with bearing tidings.
- The citation does not state that nabaʾ (tidings) and khabar (information) are synonymous or non-synonymous in a general lexicographical sense; what it establishes is Shahrur’s functional distinction between the bearer of tidings and the bearer of information.
- The citation does not establish, without qualification, that the prophet “testifies concerning God”; its qualified wording concerns his not being a shahīd (witness) to God’s forgiveness and mercy.
- The citation does not provide an independent explanation of the meaning of shāhid (witness) as opposed to shahīd (witness) beyond the quoted wording in the context of forgiveness and mercy.
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Brief Reading
Shahrur adduces it as evidence that tidings and informing belong to the station of prophethood, and that the prophet conveys the unseen rather than witnessing it.
Themes
- Faith-related
- Linguistic and semantic
Related Concepts
- Prophethood: 2
- Informing: 2
Place in the Conceptual Network
It serves his distinction between the station of prophethood and the station of witnessing.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Support: 2
Instances of Use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 82: He adduces it as evidence that tidings belong to the station of prophethood and that the prophet informs people of the divine unseen, rather than possessing the station of witnessing concerning God.
- Concept: prophethood
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “{Inform My servants that I am indeed the Forgiving, the Merciful} (Al-Hijr 49)”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 82: He uses it to show that tidings/informing belong to the station of prophethood and that the prophet conveys the unseen rather than witnessing it.
- Concept: informing
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “Hence came the divine command to the noble prophet, saying: {Inform My servants that I am indeed the Forgiving, the Merciful}”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.