This verse recurs in Shahrur’s work because it links prayer to the timed Book, and opens the way to discussing rituals as a duty fixed in time and meaning. For that reason, it appears in the places where he explains the status of prayer and the limits of its explanation.
Verse text as it appears
Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a timed Book
Brief reading
Shahrur understands it to mean that prayer is an inscribed and timed ritual, and that the details of its performance are understood from the Sunna. He also uses the form “Book” to emphasize that it is an ordered obligation, not merely a general meaning, and that its timing is part of its structure.
Axes
- Legislative
- Faith-related
- Methodological
Related concepts
- prayer: 3
- rituals: 2
- the Book: 2
- the timed Book: 2
Its place in the conceptual network
It enters into the network of rituals, the timed Book, and prophetic clarification. For this reason, the verse remains central in organizing the relationship between text and application, and between the basis of obligation and its details.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 3
- Foundation: 2
Summary of its presence in the atlas
- Prayer is a timed Book
- Its details are linked to the Sunna
- It combines ritual and organization
Places of use
- Islam and Humanity: He cites it to argue that establishing prayer is among the obligations of faith specific to the followers of Muhammad ﷺ.
- Concept: rituals
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: ”- Establishing prayer: { … Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a timed Book } (An-Nisa 103)”
- Islam and Humanity: He cites it to argue that prayer is a timed ritual, and that the details of its performance are taken from the Messenger’s Sunna.
- Concept: prayer
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: ”{ … Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a timed Book } (An-Nisa 103)”
- Islam and Faith, p. 44: He makes it an example of the formula “written” to show that prayer is a written obligation against nature, to be performed when one has the capacity, not as a legal duty in the sense given by traditional jurisprudence.
- Concept: the Book
- Function of the verse here: foundation
- Textual evidence: ”{… Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a timed Book} (An-Nisa 103).”
- Corresponding traditional reading: It is wrong to say: prayer is an obligatory duty, and the correct formulation is: prayer is written
- Islam and Faith, p. 80: He cites it to show that prayer is a written ritual with a specified time, while the explanation of how it is performed requires the Sunna.
- Concept: prayer
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: ”{ … Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a timed Book } (An-Nisa 103)”
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 17: He cites it to argue that prayer belongs to the category of “Book,” that is, organization and timing, not the category of a numerical obligation fixed in itself.
- Concept: the timed Book
- Function of the verse here: foundation
- Textual evidence: “Or in the wording {Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a timed Book} (An-Nisa 103)“
Related books
This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.