This axis brings together 4 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking them to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The Verse Text as Cited
Everything is perishing except His Face
Reader’s Answer
Question
Where does Shahrur cite the verse, what is the meaning of the distinction he draws around it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
The citation appears in the Book and the Qur’an (p. 198), where he presents the verse as a formulation of the law governing the transformation of material things: their internal contradiction leads to the demise of one form and the emergence of a new form. In organizing his exposition, he distinguishes between this internal dialectic within a single thing and an external dialectic between two things.
Shahrur cites the verse while presenting the “law of the internal struggle of opposites” in material things, and treats it as the optimal formulation of this law. He links continuous movement and change to the demise of a thing’s form and the birth of a new form. Shahrur distinguishes between an internal dialectic occurring between two elements constituting a single thing and an external dialectic between two things; in his argument, the verse serves to frame the internal dialectic and the resulting transformation of form.
Evidence and Location
the Book and the Qur’an — p. 198.
Limits of the Reading
- The evidence does not establish that the verse is used here to found a conception of monotheism or justice, nor to connect it with the legitimacy of the civil state.
- The evidence does not explain the meaning of “His Face” independently, nor does it affirm the absolute annihilation of existing things; rather, at this point, it explicitly states the demise of the form and the birth of a new form.
- The documented location of the citation is the Book and the Qur’an, p. 198; the current reference to the State and Society, p. 15, is not supported by the accompanying evidence.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
Shahrur relies on the verse to establish a cosmic conception based on the perishability of everything other than God, linking this to monotheism and justice.
Axes
- Faith-based
- Methodological
- Legislative
Related Concepts
- Perishability: 2
- General dialectic: 2
- Perishing: 2
- Monotheism: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to the law of transformation and perishing, and to the general cosmic conclusion.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 2
- Foundation: 2
Atlas Pages Referring to This Verse
These links gather pages that rely on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.
Related Atoms
Contexts of Use
- the State and Society, p. 15: He cites it to connect the legitimacy of the civil state to the idea that all existing things perish except God, and that justice outside this framework is an illusion.
- Concept: perishability
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “At this point lies the doctrine of the monotheism of lordship: {Everything is perishing except His Face} (Al-Qasas 88), or what we have called the law of glorification.”
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 20: He makes it an example of the general cosmic law he derives from arranging the verses concerning creation and the human being.
- Concept: general dialectic
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “These verses thus confirmed that the Qur’an contains the law of general dialectic: {Everything is perishing except His Face} (Al-Qasas 88).”
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 198: He makes it a Qur’anic formulation of the law of the demise of form and the alteration of becoming in matter.
- Concept: perishing
- Function of the verse here: foundation
- Textual evidence: “The optimal formulation of this law came in His exalted saying: {… Everything is perishing except His Face} (Al-Qasas 88).”
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 540: He uses it to establish an evolving cosmic conception and to link justice and existence to the law of glorification and transformation.
- Concept: monotheism
- Function of the verse here: foundation
- Textual evidence: “In this matter lies the doctrine of the monotheism of lordship: {… Everything is perishing except His Face …}.”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.