Al-Nisa' 80

3 min read

This entry brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

The verse text as cited

{Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed God; and whoever turns away—We have not sent you as a guardian over them.}

Reader’s answer

Question

How does Muhammad Shahrur employ God’s saying, {Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed God…}, in his discussion of obedience to the Messenger?

Shahrur employs the verse to establish that obedience to the Messenger, in the capacity of messengerhood, is obedience to God; he confines it to the commands and prohibitions revealed to the Messenger for proclamation. The evidence presented does not provide an independent elaboration of the other types of the Prophet’s actions or their rulings.

Shahrur holds that the Revelation urges obedience to the Messenger “in the capacity of messengerhood” in every command and prohibition revealed to him by his Lord, and he cites Al-Nisa’ 80 to show that obedience to the Messenger is obedience to God.

Evidence and location

The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna — p. 86.

Limits of the reading

  • The evidence does not establish that the verse distinguishes, in itself or in this passage of Shahrur’s book, between “binding obedience” and the Prophet’s other actions in a comprehensive manner.
  • The evidence from page 303 of The State and Society lists the verse among verses denying guardianship and provides no direct explanation of the claim of binding obedience; it therefore cannot alone support that claim.
  • The quotation does not set out Shahrur’s detailed criterion for distinguishing the capacity of messengerhood from other capacities, nor the resulting jurisprudential applications.

Continue from here

Brief reading

The verse is used to distinguish binding obedience connected to messengerhood from other actions.

Axes

  • Faith
  • Political and social
  • Connected obedience: 2
  • Obedience to the Messenger: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

It contributes to defining the meaning and limits of obedience within the community.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Distinction: 1
  • Support: 1

Instances of use

  • The State and Society, p. 303: He uses it as part of the distinction between binding obedience as religious proclamation and the Prophet’s other actions.
    • Concept: connected obedience
    • Function of the verse here: distinction
    • Textual evidence: “- {Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed God … We have not sent you as a guardian over them.} (Al-Nisa’ 80),”
  • The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna, p. 86: He presents it as evidence that obedience to the Messenger is in fact obedience to God when it falls within the capacity of messengerhood.
    • Concept: obedience to the Messenger
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual evidence: “{Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed God…} Al-Nisa’ 80.”

This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas