Al-Hujurat 13

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This verse appears in Shahrur’s project as an encompassing text that rearranges the relationship among people on the basis of mutual acquaintance, not on the basis of inherited hierarchy. For that reason, it recurs whenever he seeks to show that the diversity of peoples and tribes is intended for mutual acquaintance, and that taqwa remains the criterion of dignity.

The verse as cited

O mankind, indeed We created you from a male and a female and made you peoples and tribes so that you may come to know one another. Indeed, the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most God-conscious of you. Indeed, God is Knowing, Informed.

Brief reading

In Shahrur’s view, the verse makes human difference part of the very structure of humanity itself, not a reason for superiority or exclusion. Mutual acquaintance is the stated purpose, and taqwa is the standard of value. From this meaning, he links it to relations among communities, to mutual respect, and to the negation of privilege based on lineage, color, or affiliation.

Axes

  • Political and social
  • Human and ethical
  • Faith-based
  • mutual acquaintance: 10
  • taqwa: 7
  • peoples and tribes: 2
  • people: 2
  • people and tribe: 1
  • mutual acquaintance and coexistence: 1
  • coexistence: 1

Its place in the network of concepts

The verse enters a network that brings together mutual acquaintance, taqwa, peoples and tribes, and the meaning of people as different collectives. It is central because it gives his project an ethical foundation for relations among those who are different, and places difference in its proper position within human society.

The role of the verse in the argument

  • Foundational: 8
  • Support: 7
  • Context: 3
  • Critique of the tradition: 1

Summary of its presence in the atlas

  • Mutual acquaintance is the axis of its repeated presence.
  • Taqwa remains the criterion of dignity in his reading.
  • It is used to negate privilege based on lineage, color, or affiliation.

Pages in the atlas that refer to this verse

These links gather the pages that rely on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.

Places of use

  • Islam and Human: He cites the verse to establish that Islam addresses all people on a universal human basis, not on the basis of religious or ethnic affiliation.
    • Concept: mutual acquaintance
    • Role of the verse here: Context
    • Textual citation: “because of His saying, exalted is He: { O mankind … so that you may come to know one another … } (al-Hujurat 13)”
  • Islam and Human: He uses it to affirm that the multiplicity of peoples and tribes is intended for mutual acquaintance, not for value-based or religious distinction.
    • Concept: mutual acquaintance
    • Role of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “{ O mankind, indeed We created you from a male and a female … } (al-Hujurat 13)”
  • Islam and Human: He makes it the basis for relations among religions and peoples on the basis of mutual respect and mutual acquaintance.
    • Concept: mutual acquaintance
    • Role of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “{ O mankind, indeed We created you from a male and a female … so that you may come to know one another … } (al-Hujurat 13).”
  • Islam and Human: He infers from it that the concept of people is broader than nation and nationality because it includes both.
    • Concept: people and tribe
    • Role of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “The Exalted mentioned in this verse peoples and tribes, and omitted nations and nationalities, though they are included within people and tribe.”
  • Islam and Faith, p. 52: He makes it the basis for the criterion of superiority among human beings, which for him is an ethical criterion, not racial or sectarian-religious.
    • Concept: taqwa
    • Role of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “{Indeed, the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most God-conscious of you…}”
  • State and Society, p. 74: He makes it the basis for defining the people as bringing together the meanings of assemblage and division within the development of societies.
    • Concept: peoples and tribes
    • Role of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “It came with the meaning of separation and assemblage, as in His saying, exalted be He … and tribes so that you may come to know one another. Indeed, the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most God-conscious of you …”
  • State and Society, p. 262: He makes it the basis for a human criterion of superiority grounded in taqwa, not in sex, color, or race.
    • Concept: taqwa
    • Role of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “The Wise Revelation set taqwa as the criterion for evaluating people before God; {O mankind …} (al-Hujurat 13)”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 498: He cites it to show that the word people includes both males and females together, as a prelude to his reading of the term women in the previous verse.
    • Concept: people
    • Role of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “People are the male and female among the rational … because of His saying … (al-Hujurat 13)”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 45: He makes the criterion of dignity taqwa, not creed, to establish a human relationship with the different other.
    • Concept: taqwa
    • Role of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “God – exalted be He – set the criterion of superiority: {O mankind … indeed the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most God-conscious of you …}”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 83: He invokes it to emphasize that some verses have a social purpose such as mutual acquaintance, unlike the verse of fighting, which requires deriving objectives from other places.
    • Concept: mutual acquaintance
    • Role of the verse here: Context
    • Textual citation: “Regarding the creation of man from male and female and His making you peoples and tribes in the verse of al-Hujurat 13, … the intended purpose of this creation and making is mutual acquaintance”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 99: He invokes the verse to show that turning fighting into a permanent principle abolishes the purpose of mutual acquaintance and coexistence among people.
    • Concept: mutual acquaintance and coexistence
    • Role of the verse here: Context
    • Textual citation: “Thus the aim of mutual acquaintance and coexistence stated in the verse of al-Hujurat 13 is nullified.”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 169: He makes it the basis for the idea that the purpose of the multiplicity of peoples and tribes is mutual acquaintance, not struggle over closed loyalties.
    • Concept: mutual acquaintance
    • Role of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “{… and made you peoples and tribes so that you may come to know one another…} (al-Hujurat 13).”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 174: He cites it again to assert that the messages came to regulate loyalties within a framework of mutual acquaintance and communication, not exclusion.
    • Concept: mutual acquaintance
    • Role of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “{And made you peoples and tribes so that you may come to know one another…} (al-Hujurat 13).”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 192: He cites it to say that turning loyalty and disavowal into excommunication and hatred kills the Qur’anic purpose of mutual acquaintance.
    • Concept: mutual acquaintance
    • Role of the verse here: Critique of the tradition
    • Textual citation: “{And made you peoples and tribes so that you may come to know one another} (al-Hujurat 13).”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 292: He uses it to infer that the relation among peoples, nationalities, and nations is based on mutual acquaintance, not racial superiority.
    • Concept: mutual acquaintance
    • Role of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “The relation among nations, nationalities, and peoples is a relation built on mutual acquaintance, because of His saying – exalted be He –: {O mankind … so that you may come to know one another …} (al-Hujurat 13).”
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 54: He cites it to critique tribal boasting based on lineage and make taqwa the criterion of dignity, not political lineage.
    • Concept: taqwa
    • Role of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “The observer finds the two men boasting of lineages in a clearly pre-Islamic tribal spirit, as though in the midst of their struggle for power they had forgotten the simplest teachings of the Muhammadan message: {Indeed, the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most God-conscious of you}”
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 132: He employs it to establish dignity according to taqwa, not sex.
    • Concept: taqwa
    • Role of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “{ … Indeed, the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most God-conscious of you … } (al-Hujurat 13),”
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 226: He cites it to show that the marriage covenant includes the social dimension of mutual acquaintance between people and the family, not only the sexual aspect.
    • Concept: mutual acquaintance
    • Role of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “It also includes clauses… and mutual acquaintance: { O mankind, indeed We created you from a male and a female … } (al-Hujurat 13)”
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 281: He makes it the criterion of honor before God in contrast to male-centric conceptions that devalue women.
    • Concept: taqwa
    • Role of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “{ Indeed, the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most God-conscious of you } (al-Hujurat 13)”

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

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas