Al-Dhariyat 56

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This axis brings together 3 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

The text of the verse as cited

And I did not create jinn and humankind except that they may worship Me.

Reader’s answer

The question

Where does Al-Dhariyat 56 occur, how does Shahrur distinguish the meaning of “that they may worship Me” in it, and what function does it serve in his argument?

The verse occurs in Surat Al-Dhariyat, verse 56. Shahrur reads it as a statement that jinn and humans were created free and endowed with choice; he holds that “they may worship Me” can mean obedience and submission on the one hand, and, conversely, disbelief and arrogance on the other. He therefore makes it evidence in his argument that the purpose of human creation is freedom.

Shahrur maintains that Al-Dhariyat 56 is a declarative verse and that it indicates that jinn and humans were created free, with freedom of choice. He interprets “that they may worship Me” in the verse as allowing two opposite meanings: submission and obedience, or disbelief and arrogance. Shahrur employs the verse to establish that the purpose of human creation is freedom, linking this claim in the same passage to Al-Kahf 29.

The citation and its location

The Book and the Qur’an — p. 276.

Limits of the reading

  • This presentation reports Shahrur’s reading as stated in the citation and does not establish that this interpretation is the exegetically agreed meaning of the verse.
  • The citation explicitly states the opposition between the two meanings in the use of “they may worship Me” here, but it does not provide, in this passage, an independent linguistic elaboration grounding this distinction.
  • The citation does not establish any additional semantic relationship between the words of the verse and other words, apart from the connection that Shahrur explicitly makes with Al-Kahf 29.

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Brief reading

It underpins the idea that the purpose of creation is freedom and choice, and that servitude is understood in terms of obedience or disobedience within the sphere of will.

Axes

  • Faith-based
  • Human and ethical
  • Methodological
  • Servitude: 3
  • Worship: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

It constitutes a foundation for linking worship to freedom of choice rather than coercion.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Foundational: 3

Instances of use

  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 276: He builds on it to argue that the purpose of creation is freedom and choice, and that worship here can mean obedience or disbelief as opposites within a single act.
    • Concept: Worship
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “{And I did not create jinn and humankind except that they may worship Me} (Al-Dhariyat 56). This verse is declarative.”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 87: He interprets it as obedience through freedom of choice and links it to freedom of belief and jihad in its defense.
    • Concept: Servitude
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “Here we understand that servitude is the word … {And I did not create jinn and humankind except that they may worship Me} (Al-Dhariyat 56).”
  • Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, pp. 57–58: He builds on it a definition of the servant as both obedient and disobedient, within freedom of choice.
    • Concept: Servitude
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: “The servant is among the contronyms … as stated by God Most High: {And I did not create jinn and humankind except that they may worship Me} (Al-Dhariyat 56).”

This page is presented within the atlas’s general atlas construction methodology.

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