An-Nahl 75

This axis gathers 4 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

The verse as cited

God presents the example of a slave owned by another, unable to do anything…

Brief reading

Shahrur relies on the verse to distinguish the free slave from the owned slave, and to affirm that the original condition of the human being is freedom, not slavery.

Axes

• Humanistic and ethical
• Linguistic and semantic
• Political and social

Related concepts

• Freedom: 2
• The slave: 2
• The slave and ownership: 2
• Slaves: 2

Its place in the conceptual network

It serves the conceptual network that separates linguistic servitude from social ownership.

The verse’s role in the argument

• Distinction: 2
• Support: 1
• Foundation: 1

Instances of use

• Islam and Man: used to argue that servitude and slavery are human constructs, not affirmed by revelation, and that the foundational principle is freedom.
  • Concept: Freedom
  • The verse’s function here: Support
  • Textual evidence: «{ ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا عَبْدًا مَمْلُوكًا لَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَى شَيْءٍ … } (an-Nahl 75)»
• The State and Society, p. 264: used to argue for distinguishing between the free slave and the owned slave in language and in the Qur’an.
  • Concept: The slave
  • The verse’s function here: Distinction
  • Textual evidence: «God, exalted be He, distinguished the owned slave from the free slave in His saying: {ضَرَبَ اللهُ مَثَلًا عَبْدًا مَمْلُوكًا …} (an-Nahl 75)»
• The State and Society, p. 265: used to distinguish “the slave” from “the owned” and to show that the notion of slave is broader than slavery, and that the verse differentiated between the free and the owned.
  • Concept: The slave and ownership
  • The verse’s function here: Distinction
  • Textual evidence: «So God, exalted be He, distinguished the owned slave from the free slave in His saying: {ضَرَبَ اللهُ مَثَلًا عَبْدًا مَمْلُوكًا لَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَى شَيْءٍ} (an-Nahl 75)»
• A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 58: used to distinguish the owned slave from the free slave, and to link servitude to coercion.
  • Concept: Slaves
  • The verse’s function here: Foundation
  • Textual evidence: «And the owned slave has no freedom … according to His saying تعالى: { ضَرَبَ اللهُ مَثَلًا عَبْدًا مَمْلُوكًا لَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَى شَيْءٍ … } (an-Nahl 75).»

Related books

• Islam and Man
• The State and Society
• A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation

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