This axis brings together 2 instances 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
{And when Our messengers came to Abraham with glad tidings}
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Qur’anic statement, {And when Our messengers came to Abraham with glad tidings}, in his discussion of messengerhoods and the destruction of the town?
Shahrur employs the verse in two distinct passages of his book: he first cites it within a narrative extending from Noah, Hūd, and Lot to Abraham, in order to establish the continuing arrival of warnings and the call to divine oneness throughout those periods; he cites it a second time among verses concerning unjust towns, making the destruction of the town an example of the consequence of wrongdoing and stagnation. The evidence does not establish that the verse itself, taken alone, grounds a complete theory of the “development of prophethoods” or the “gradual development of religious consciousness.”
Shahrur places the beginning of the verse in the context of listing the eras of Noah, Hūd, Lot, and Abraham, after stating that warnings came to call to the oneness of God and continued during these periods. Thus, the direct use here is to connect the verse with the continuity of warning/the call across these eras.
Evidence and Location
The State and Society — p. 45.
Limits of the Reading
- The text presented from the evidence on p. 45 breaks off at the beginning of the citation of Abraham’s verse; it therefore establishes its inclusion in the narrative, but does not permit the attribution of further detail to Shahrur beyond the point of interruption.
- The verse’s two functions in the two passages should not be merged: continuity within the narrative of warnings on p. 45, and the example of the destruction of the unjust/stagnant town on p. 87, into a single undifferentiated claim.
- The description of the “development of prophethoods” or the “gradual development of religious consciousness” is broader than the directly documented statement, and requires fuller evidence if it is to be presented as an explicit thesis of Shahrur.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
He places it within the trajectory of messengerhoods to show the continuity of religious progression, and makes destruction contingent upon the wrongdoing of the people of the town.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Political and social
Related Concepts
- Glad tidings: 2
- Destruction: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It links the laws of history to the moral stance of the community.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Context: 1
- Support: 1
Instances of Use
- The State and Society, p. 45: He places it within the line of the development of prophethoods to show the continuity of messengerhoods and the gradual development of religious consciousness.
- Concept: Glad tidings
- Function of the verse here: Context
- Textual evidence: “And in the era of Abraham, he said: {And when Our messengers came to Abraham with glad tidings} (Al-ʿAnkabūt 31).”
- The State and Society, p. 87: He adduces it as evidence that destruction is caused by the wrongdoing of the people of the town, rather than merely by their existence as a group.
- Concept: Destruction
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “{And when Our messengers came to Abraham with glad tidings … indeed, its people were wrongdoers}”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.