This thematic axis brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The Text of the Verse as Cited
{Expel Lot’s family from your town}
Reader’s Answer
Question
Where does Shahrur cite The Ant 56, what do expulsion and fitna mean in it, and what role does it play in his argument?
The citation appears in The State and Society, p. 299. Shahrur makes the expulsion of Lot’s family from their town an earlier example of expulsion from one’s homeland, which he includes among the forms of fitna; the verse serves his distinction between those who do not practice fitna and those who do, and the consequences this has for one’s stance toward them.
Shahrur cites The Ant 56 when discussing expulsion from one’s homeland through banishment or exile, presenting the people of Lot’s expulsion of Lot’s family as an earlier example of this type of expulsion. Here, Shahrur defines fitna as coercing people to abandon their religion through force or inducement, and regards expulsion from one’s homeland and assistance in it as forms of its practice. The verse’s function in the argument is to support Shahrur’s distinction between polytheists who did not subject believers to fitna—toward whom he links the proper stance to equity and kindness—and polytheists who practiced fitna, including expulsion from one’s homeland, toward whom he links the proper stance to non-alliance.
Citation and Location
The State and Society — p. 299.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation does not describe the verse as a general expression of the “rejection of those who differ”; rather, it links it specifically to expulsion from one’s homeland as one of the forms of fitna.
- The citation does not establish that the verse grounds an independent ruling; its use here is illustrative within Shahrur’s construction of the meaning of fitna and of the stance toward those who practice it.
- The citation does not explain the verse’s full context or offer a comparison among the terms for expulsion, banishment, and exile beyond this passage.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
The verse is cited as an example of forced expulsion, as a form of fitna and the rejection of those who differ.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Political and social
Related Concepts
- Expulsion from one’s homeland: 2
- Rejection of the other: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It serves to portray social violence against those who differ.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Example: 2
Instances of Use
- The State and Society, p. 299: He cites it as a historical example of forced expulsion as a form of fitna.
- Concept: Expulsion from one’s homeland
- The verse’s function here: Example
- Textual citation: “… just as Lot’s people had previously been expelled from their homes: {Expel Lot’s family from your town} (The Ant 56).”
- The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought, p. 15: He uses it as an example of the destruction of a society that does not accept those who differ and expels those who do not conform to it.
- Concept: Rejection of the other
- The verse’s function here: Example
- Textual citation: “{But the only answer of his people was to say: Expel Lot’s family from your town…} (The Ant 56)”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for constructing the atlas.