This page brings together five places where Shahrur uses verse 29 of al-Nisa’ in his books, and in them the verse appears as a basis for safeguarding both property and life. That is why it recurs in his discussion of bribery, suicide, and the eating up of property unjustly, because its formulation combines moral prohibition with legislative regulation.
The verse as it appears
O you who believe, do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly…
Brief reading
Shahrur employs the verse to establish the prohibition of consuming wealth unjustly, then links it to specific forms such as bribery. In the same context, he distinguishes suicide from other forms of ending life, making the verse a reference for preserving the self and preventing aggression against it, rather than extending the ruling to every similar case.
Axes
- Human and ethical
- Legislative
Related concepts
- Suicide: 3
- Bribery: 2
- Eating up property unjustly: 2
- Prohibition of suicide: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
The verse falls within a network that brings wealth and the self together in a single field of ethical protection. For this reason it appears in the atlas when discussing bribery, eating up property unjustly, and suicide, because it provides these topics with a single Qur’anic basis that links corruption of wealth and corruption in assaulting the body.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 5
Summary of its presence in the atlas
- A central proof-text in the prohibition of consuming wealth unjustly
- Present in distinguishing suicide from euthanasia
- Brings together safeguarding property and safeguarding life
Places of use
- Islam and the Human: He cites it to regard bribery as a form of the prohibition of consuming wealth unjustly.
- Concept: Bribery
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: «- { O you who believe, do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly … } (al-Nisa’ 29)»
- Islam and the Human: He invokes it to show that bribery is eating up people’s wealth unjustly, and distinguishes it from commission, which is regulated by human legislation.
- Concept: Eating up property unjustly
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: «{ O you who believe, do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly… } (al-Nisa’ 29)»
- Islam and the Human: He relies on it to distinguish suicide from euthanasia, and makes the prohibition directed at whoever kills himself without right or in suicide attacks.
- Concept: Suicide
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: «In verse (29) of Surat al-Nisa’, God Most High says: { … and do not kill yourselves; indeed God is ever Merciful to you }»
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 349: He uses it to affirm that a person may not kill himself and that safeguarding life is a principle in this context.
- Concept: Prohibition of suicide
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: «We also see this in God Most High’s prohibition of suicide when He says {… and do not kill yourselves…} (al-Nisa’ 29)»
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 133: He makes it an example of a prohibition that leaves room for human legislation in some exceptional cases, such as terminal illness.
- Concept: Suicide
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: «For example, the saying of – Exalted be He –: { O you who believe, do not consume one another’s wealth … and do not kill yourselves; indeed God is ever Merciful to you } (al-Nisa’ 29)»
Related books
This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.