This axis gathers 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
But as for me, He is God, my Lord, and I associate no one with my Lord.
Reader’s answer
Question
Where does the verse occur, what does Shahrur distinguish in it, and what role does it play in his argument?
The verse is al-Kahf 38. Shahrur cites it as an example of the mention of God in the masculine form, in the course of his discussion of the “Age of Villages,” which he describes as an age of male dominance. The citation does not provide an independent terminological distinction concerning the pronoun in this verse; the explicit distinction concerns the term “men” in another verse, not al-Kahf 38.
Shahrur cites al-Kahf 38 as a locus in which God is mentioned in the masculine form. He places this citation within his argument describing the “Age of Villages” as an age marked by the dominance of masculinity in life.
Citation and location
State and Society — p. 143.
Limits of the reading
- The citation does not explain the verse’s structure in its immediate context or specify the pronoun’s referent within the story.
- The citation does not state that the masculine form in the verse is a general linguistic rule, nor does it establish from it alone a detailed causal relation between the masculine form and historical social structure.
- It is not valid to transfer the distinction Shahrur makes regarding “men” to the pronoun in al-Kahf 38 as though it were an explicit distinction in the verse itself.
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Brief reading
The verse is cited to connect the masculine pronoun in discourse to a historical social context in which masculinity predominates.
Axes
- Linguistic and semantic
- Political and social
Related concepts
- Masculinization: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It contributes to understanding masculinization as a usage marker connected to context.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- State and Society, p. 143: He cites it to show that the masculine pronoun in discourse about God is used in the context of the masculinity he sees as dominant in the Age of Villages.
- Concept: masculinization
- The verse’s function here: support
- Textual citation: “{But as for me, He is God, my Lord, and I associate no one with my Lord} (al-Kahf 38).”
Related books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.