This axis brings together 1 instance of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
O you who believe, do not take the Jews and Christians as allies …
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Qur’an 5:51 in his critique of the discourse of loyalty and disavowal?
Shahrur employs the verse as one of the texts upon which, in the discourse he critiques, the assertion is built that “loyalty and disavowal” are necessary implications of monotheism. He describes the move from the verse—together with the verse from Al ‘Imran and selected hadiths—to this conclusion as a “threefold leap,” linguistic and inferential; that is, he objects to this line of reasoning, not merely to the occurrence of the verse itself.
Shahrur presents Qur’an 5:51 among the texts invoked to claim that loyalty and disavowal are necessary implications of monotheism. He describes this inference as a “threefold leap” in linguistic indication and juristic deduction, culminating in the categorical assertion of this conclusion.
Citation and Location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 186.
Limits of the Reading
- The quotation occurs in the context of critiquing the linking of migration to loyalty and disavowal, and it does not provide an independent linguistic or historical interpretation of Qur’an 5:51.
- It is not valid to attribute to Shahrur a detailed position on all relations between Muslims and Jews and Christians on the basis of this excerpt alone.
- The claim that the verse is employed specifically in “contemporary political takfir” requires more explicit evidence than the available text provides.
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Brief Reading
The verse is employed to critique the expansion of allegiance into general religious hostility and contemporary political takfir.
Axes
- Political and social
- Faith-related
Related Concepts
- Allegiance: 2
- Political takfir: 1
- Religious hostility: 1
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It belongs to the network of critique of the heritage associated with the misuse of the meaning of allegiance.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Critique of the heritage: 1
Instances of Use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 186: He uses it as part of his critique of expanding it into general religious hostility and contemporary political takfir.
- Concept: allegiance
- Function of the verse here: critique of the heritage
- Textual witness: “{O you who believe, do not take the Jews and Christians as allies…} (Al-Ma’idah 51).”
- Corresponding traditional reading: interpreting it as a basis for unconditional disavowal of Jews and Christians
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.