This axis gathers 3 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 text as it appears
Indeed, God commands justice, goodness, and giving to relatives, and He forbids obscenity, wrongdoing, and transgression. He admonishes you so that you may remember.
Brief reading
The verse is used to distinguish moral exhortation from the laws of the universe, and to connect conduct with changing customs and legislative ijtihad.
Axes
- Human and ethical
- Political and social
- Legislative
Associated concepts
- Exhortation: 2
- Social customs: 2
- Command and prohibition: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It opens a link between general ethics, social organization, and the limits of legislation.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Distinction: 1
- Support: 1
- Foundation: 1
Instances of use
- State and Society, p. 24: He cites it to argue that the commands of ethical conduct are admonitions and legislation, not an irreversible decree like the laws of the universe.
- Concept: Exhortation
- The verse’s function here: Distinction
- Textual evidence: «{Indeed, God commands justice … He admonishes you so that you may remember} (al-Nahl 90),»
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 164: He includes it with the verses of enjoining right and forbidding wrong to emphasize that the criterion is social and evolves with changes in time and place.
- Concept: Social customs
- The verse’s function here: Support
- Textual evidence: «al-Nahl (90) | {Indeed, God commands justice, goodness… and He forbids obscenity, wrongdoing, and transgression}»
- A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 50: He makes the verse a basis for distinguishing between what God forbids and what legislative authority handles in civil ijtihad.
- Concept: Command and prohibition
- The verse’s function here: Foundation
- Textual evidence: «God left the task of ijtihad in this to the legislative authority, as He says: {Indeed, God commands justice … and He forbids obscenity …} (al-Nahl 90).»
Related books
- State and Society
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism
- A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation
This page is presented within the general methodology of building the atlas.