This axis brings together 1 instance 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
Allah, who created the heavens and the earth …
Reader’s answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Al-Sajdah 4 in his discussion of the names “Allah” and “the All-Merciful”?
Shahrur employs the opening of the verse, “Allah, who created the heavens and the earth…,” to support his claim that the divine name “Allah” is “the foundation” and the designation of divinity. He then distinguishes it from “the All-Merciful,” which he calls the designation of lordship. This is a claim attributed to Shahrur in the cited passage, not a conclusion imposed by the verse alone.
Shahrur cites Al-Sajdah 4 after stating that the divine name “Allah” is the foundation. He maintains that “Allah” is the designation of divinity and that “the All-Merciful” is the designation of lordship, connecting this to the ordering of the expression “Allah the All-Merciful,” rather than “the All-Merciful Allah.”
Citation and location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 35.
Limits of the reading
- The sole citation from page 35 establishes that Shahrur associated Al-Sajdah 4 with this distinction; it does not establish that the verse itself grounds all the details of his theory of “the All-Merciful.”
- The explanatory page provides no broader context showing how he infers this from the wording of the verse; the connection should therefore be explicitly attributed to him.
- The citation contains no reference to an independent source supporting the definition of “lordship” or conclusively determining the meaning of “the All-Merciful” in all Qur’anic occurrences.
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Brief reading
He employs it to distinguish the divine name “Allah” as the designation of divinity, in contrast to “the All-Merciful” as the designation of lordship.
Axes
- Faith
- Linguistic and semantic
Related concepts
- Divinity: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It is connected to divinity through a semantic distinction between names and functions.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 35: He uses it to distinguish the divine name “Allah,” which for him is the designation of divinity, from “the All-Merciful,” the designation of lordship.
- Concept: Divinity
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “{Allah, who created the heavens and the earth …} (Al-Sajdah 4)”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.