This axis brings together 4 instances of Muhammad Shahrur’s use of this verse in his books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The verse as cited
We were taught the speech of birds
Brief reading
Shahrur uses the verse to critique its inherited deployment in political succession, and treats it in its original setting as a story between two prophets, not a warrant for rule.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Linguistic and semantic
- Methodological
Associated concepts
- speech of birds: 2
- inheritance: 2
- inheritance of kingship: 2
- prophetic inheritance: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It is linked to a chain of concepts that disentangles the conflation between prophetic inheritance and inheritance of kingship.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Critique of tradition: 2
- Example: 1
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 234: He takes it as evidence that logic is the meaning of a concept that can be understood, not merely sounds; therefore he cites the speech of birds to confirm the linguistic definition.
- Concept: speech of birds
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual evidence: «And we finally understand the meaning of logic in His saying – تعالى –: {And Solomon inherited David… We were taught the speech of birds…} (An-Naml 16)»
- Toward New Principles for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 49: He uses it as the sole proof for the inheritance of kingship/leadership in the Revelation when searching for a legal cover for rule.
- Concept: inheritance
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: «{And Solomon inherited David …} (An-Naml 16).»
- Toward New Principles for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 49: He uses the verse to refute its traditional employment in legitimizing inheritance of rule, and emphasizes that its context concerns inheritance between two prophets, not a political cover for kingship.
- Concept: inheritance of kingship
- Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
- Textual evidence: «Those seeking legitimacy … found nothing but verses of inheritance and verses commanding obedience to those in authority … and relying on verses of messengership and hadiths of prophethood … except for one verse only, namely His saying – تعالى –: { And Solomon inherited David }»
- Counter-traditional reading: Some said wealth and kingship, because prophethood is an original gift and is not inherited; others said rather prophethood
- Toward New Principles for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 54: He mentions it to show that using it to argue for a prophet’s inheritance of kingship and prophethood does not hold, because the verse is about a father and son, both prophets.
- Concept: prophetic inheritance
- Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
- Textual evidence: «This reminds us of a verse that the Hashemites have always been accustomed to brandishing in the face of the Umayyads, namely His saying – تعالى –: {And Solomon inherited David} (An-Naml 16), as proof of their right to inherit the prophet through kingship and prophethood»
- Counter-traditional reading: Proof of their right to inherit the prophet through kingship and prophethood
Related books
This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.