This locus brings together 4 places where this verse is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The verse text as cited
{IF GOD HAD WILLED, ANGELS WOULD HAVE BEEN SENT DOWN; WE HAVE NOT HEARD OF THIS AMONG OUR ANCIORS OF OLD}
Brief reading
In Shahrur’s account, the verse appears in a historical context that clarifies the people of Noah’s understanding of sending down and the angels, alongside a critique of unexamined traditional reception.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Faith-related
Related concepts
- The first heritage: 2
- Angels: 2
- Critique of heritage: 2
- Sending down: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It is linked to the narrative of the earliest prophecies and to a reconsideration of the religious inheritance.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 2
- Context: 1
- Critique of heritage: 1
Places of use
- The State and Society, p. 45: He places it within a historical narrative that shows the continuity of the call to monotheism since Noah and before him.
- Concept: The first heritage
- Function of the verse here: Context
- Textual citation: “In the time of Noah, He—Most High—said: {IF GOD HAD WILLED, ANGELS WOULD HAVE BEEN SENT DOWN; WE HAVE NOT HEARD OF THIS AMONG OUR ANCIORS OF OLD} (al-Mu’minun 24).”
- The Qur’anic Narrative, vol. 2, p. 10: He cites it to show that warnings before Noah were imagined to be embodied angels, not human beings.
- Concept: Angels
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “{IF GOD HAD WILLED, ANGELS WOULD HAVE BEEN SENT DOWN; WE HAVE NOT HEARD OF THIS AMONG OUR ANCIORS OF OLD} (al-Mu’minun 24)”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 25: He uses it to condemn blind submission to heritage and to argue that one’s stance toward it should be one of respect, not sanctification.
- Concept: Critique of heritage
- Function of the verse here: Critique of heritage
- Textual citation: “The Wise Revelation has forbidden us to take a stance toward heritage of blind submission and sanctification {.. WE HAVE NOT HEARD OF THIS AMONG OUR ANCIORS OF OLD} (al-Mu’minun 24)”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 267: He uses it to argue that the people of Noah expected God to communicate with human beings through tangible angels perceived by the senses.
- Concept: Sending down
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “So when Noah was sent, his people said to him: {AND THE NOTABLES SAID … IF GOD HAD WILLED, HE WOULD HAVE SENT DOWN ANGELS …}”
- Counter-traditional reading: Connection with God can only occur through visible angels
Related books
This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.