This axis brings together 1 occurrence of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The Text of the Verse as Cited
Every person is held in pledge for what they have earned.
Reader’s Answer
Question
Where does the verse occur, how does Shahrur distinguish the meaning of “earned” in it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
The verse occurs in Surat al-Tur (21). Shahrur understands “earning” as the return of one’s actions, and he uses it as part of his argument for elevating the status of action in the Revelation and rejecting what he calls a fabrication attributed to a hadith that he discusses in the same passage.
Shahrur interprets “earning” in the verse as the return of one’s actions. He deploys the verse within a group of verses to argue that the Revelation elevates the status of action, in the context of his response to information attributed to a hadith that he describes as a fabrication.
Citation and Location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 226.
Limits of the Reading
- This reading is limited to the meaning explicitly stated by the citation in the indicated passage.
- The citation does not provide an independent definition of the term “held in pledge” in the verse.
- No distinction between similar terms, nor a claim of synonymy or non-synonymy, may be attributed on the basis of this citation.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
The verse supports linking a person’s fate to their actions and earnings, rather than to prior assumptions about deprivation or abundance.
Axes
- Humanistic and ethical
- Legislative
Related Concepts
- Earning: 2
- Action: 1
- Fate: 1
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It supports the concept of individual responsibility as connected to earning.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 1
Contexts of Use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 226: He adduces it as evidence that a person’s fate is tied to their actions and earnings, not to purported prior deprivation or abundance.
- Concept: earning
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “He—Exalted is He—says: {Every person is held in pledge for what they have earned} (al-Tur 21).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for constructing the atlas.