This axis brings together 3 instances of this verse’s use in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Verse Text as It Appears
And I did not create jinn and humankind except that they may worship Me
Brief Reading
From it is built the idea that the purpose of creation is freedom and choice, and that servitude is understood within obedience or disobedience within the sphere of will.
Axes
- Faith
- Human and ethical
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- servitude: 3
- worship: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It represents a foundation for linking worship to freedom of choice rather than compulsion.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Establishment: 3
Instances of Use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 276: He builds on it the idea that the purpose of creation is freedom and choice, and that worship here can signify obedience or disbelief as opposites within a single act.
- Concept: worship
- Function of the verse here: Establishment
- Textual evidence: “{And I did not create jinn and humankind except that they may worship Me} (al-Dhāriyāt 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 defense of it.
- Concept: servitude
- Function of the verse here: Establishment
- Textual evidence: “So here we understand that ʿibādiyya is the word … {And I did not create jinn and humankind except that they may worship Me} (al-Dhāriyāt 56)”
- Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, pp. 57-58: He builds on it the definition of the servant as both obedient and disobedient within freedom of choice.
- Concept: servitude
- Function of the verse here: Establishment
- Textual evidence: “The servant is among the names of opposites … according to His saying تعالى: { And I did not create jinn and humankind except that they may worship Me } (al-Dhāriyāt 56).”
Related Books
- The Book and the Qur’an
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism
- Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation
This page is presented within the general methodology of atlas construction.