Al-Qasas 59

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This axis gathers 3 places where this verse is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

Text of the verse as cited

AND YOUR LORD WOULD NEVER DESTROY THE TOWNS UNTIL HE SENDS TO THEIR MOTHER TOWN A MESSENGER RECITING TO THEM OUR VERSES. AND WE WOULD NOT DESTROY THE TOWNS EXCEPT WHEN THEIR PEOPLE WERE WRONGDOERS

Brief reading

The verse is made the basis for distinguishing Mecca as the Mother of Towns, and for showing that warning precedes destruction and that the city comes into being after the proof has been established.

Axes

  • Narrative and historical
  • Political and social
  • Mother of Towns: 2
  • warning: 2
  • city: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

It is linked to the concept of transformation from town to city and from warning to the coming-into-being of society.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Establishment: 3

Pages in the atlas that refer to this verse

These links gather the pages that draw on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.

Instances of use

  • State and Society, p. 135: He uses it to identify Mecca as the Mother of Towns, then to explain that its warning precedes destruction and that its distinctiveness prevents establishing the project of the city there.
    • Concept: Mother of Towns
    • Function of the verse here: Establishment
    • Textual citation: “And it has been described as the Mother of Towns in His – تعالى – saying: {AND YOUR LORD WOULD NEVER DESTROY THE TOWNS …} (Al-Qasas 59)”
  • State and Society, p. 142: He cites it as evidence that the destruction of a town does not occur except after a messenger has been sent to its mother town, that is, after the proof has been established against it.
    • Concept: warning
    • Function of the verse here: Establishment
    • Textual citation: “{AND YOUR LORD WOULD NEVER DESTROY THE TOWNS UNTIL HE SENDS TO THEIR MOTHER TOWN A MESSENGER} (Al-Qasas 59)”
  • The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought, pp. 15, 20: He builds on it to describe the movement of society from the monistic town to the plural city through the messenger’s message.
    • Concept: city
    • Function of the verse here: Establishment
    • Textual citation: “{AND YOUR LORD WOULD NEVER DESTROY THE TOWNS UNTIL HE SENDS TO THEIR MOTHER TOWN A MESSENGER…} (Al-Qasas 59)“

This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas