This axis brings together 1 instance of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
{Messengers bearing good news and warning, so that people may have no argument against God after the messengers …}
Reader’s Answer
Question
Where does the verse appear, what distinction does Shahrur read into it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
The verse appears in Women 165. Shahrur employs it in his discussion of guidance through proof and evidence without coercion; in this passage, it supports his linking of the messengers to the establishment of proof, rather than making an independent claim about proclamation or setting out a theory of messengerhood in detail.
Shahrur cites Women 165 in the context of affirming guidance through proof and evidence without coercion, and he presents proof and evidence as a means of reasoning toward God and His signs. The verse’s function in the argument presented is to support the connection between sending messengers and the establishment of proof against people, within the contrast between guidance through proof and coercion.
Citation and Location
The State and Society — p. 298.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation does not explicitly state, in so many words, that the function of the messengers is “proclamation”; thus, this description cannot be established from this passage alone.
- The citation does not set out a comprehensive theory of the function of the messengers, but rather employs the verse within a specific context concerning proof, evidence, and the absence of coercion.
- The citation does not establish an independent technical distinction that goes beyond the contextual contrast between proof or evidence and coercion.
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Brief Reading
For Shahrur, the verse establishes the idea that the function of the messengers is proclamation and the establishment of proof, not coercion of people.
Axes
- Methodological
- Political and social
Related Concepts
- Proclamation through proof: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It belongs within the construction of the relationship between calling and social responsibility.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Support: 1
Instances of Use
- The State and Society, p. 298: He cites it to affirm that the function of the messengers is to establish proof against people through proclamation, not coercion.
- Concept: Proclamation through proof
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “And in His saying: {Messengers bearing good news and warning …} (Women 165). Thus, proof and evidence were God’s signs and His words.”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.