This page gathers five instances of the use of An-Nisa 43 in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, and shows how the verse is read as a prohibition on prayer while intoxicated. Its importance lies in separating the drink from the state it produces, thus tying the text to the clarity of reason upon entering prayer.
The verse as it appears
O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying
Brief reading
Shahrur relies on the verse to link the ruling to the state of intoxication itself, not merely to the presence of wine or its drinking. From this point he builds a distinction between intoxication and use, and makes approaching prayer while lacking awareness of what is being said the object of the prohibition, not the name alone nor the substance alone.
Axes
- Legislative
- Linguistic and semantic
Related concepts
- intoxication: 2
- intoxication: 2
- wine: 2
- approaching: 2
- prayer: 2
Its place in the conceptual network
In the atlas, the verse is connected with the meanings of intoxication, wine, prayer, and approaching. It is central because its use does not stop at a ruling on a drink, but extends to regulating the state that prevents prayer from being performed properly, bringing together linguistic meaning and legislative implication.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Foundational: 2
- Example: 2
- Support: 1
Summary of its presence in the atlas
- Distinguishes between wine and the state of intoxication
- Recurs in explaining the meaning of approaching prayer
- Is tied to the precision of the ruling, not to the general notion of the drink
Instances of use
- Islam and the Human: He cites it to argue that the impurity in wine is intoxication, which muddles thought and prevents the worshiper from grasping what he says.
- Concept: intoxication
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: «{ O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying… } (An-Nisa 43)»
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 428: He explains the prohibition as relating to the state of intoxication caused by excess, not merely to drinking wine, and builds on this a distinction between use and intoxication.
- Concept: intoxication
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual evidence: «O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying.. (An-Nisa 43) The verse forbids approaching prayer in a state of intoxication»
- Corresponding traditional reading: prohibiting all kinds of wine, or the saying, “Whatever intoxicates in large amounts, a small amount of it is forbidden”
- A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, pp. 47-48: He defines wine by intoxication itself, not by the drink, and then makes the verse evidence for this meaning.
- Concept: wine
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual evidence: «Intoxication has nothing to do with quantity … because of His saying تعالى: { Do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated … } (An-Nisa 43).»
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 110: He uses it as an example of how approaching may be forbidden when an act draws near to the prohibited state or leads to it.
- Concept: approaching
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual evidence: «- { O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated } (An-Nisa 43).»
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 110: He cites it among the examples of “do not approach” to indicate the prohibition of approaching prayer in a state of intoxication.
- Concept: prayer
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual evidence: «- { O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated } (An-Nisa 43).»
Related books
- Islam and the Human
- The Book and the Qur’an
- A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence
This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.