This axis brings together 2 places where this verse is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The verse text as cited
Worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him…
Brief reading
The verse is used to support the meaning of monotheism as the preservation of human freedom, alongside a critique of the inherited reading that loaded it with the meaning of slavery.
Axes
- Faith-based
Related concepts
- Prohibition of polytheism: 2
- Slavery: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It brings together a faith principle and a reconsideration of an older interpretation.
The role of the verse in the argument
- Support: 1
- Critique of tradition: 1
Places of use
- Islam and the Human Being: it is cited as evidence for the prohibition of directing worship to anyone other than God, as part of preserving human freedom.
- Concept: Prohibition of polytheism
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: «- { وَاعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَلَا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا… } (النساء ٣٦)»
- The State and Society, p. 266: he cites al-Tabari’s interpretation to show that tradition understood the phrase as a recommendation concerning slaves and the enslaved.
- Concept: Slavery
- Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
- Textual evidence: «According to al-Tabari: … A RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING THE ENSLAVED, FOR THE SLAVE IS WEAK IN RESOURCEFULNESS»
- Counterpart traditional reading: the enslaved / slaves
Related books
This page is presented within the general method of atlas construction.