Al-Nur 56

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This verse appears in Shahrur under the heading of obedience to the messenger, especially in what relates to fixed rituals such as prayer and almsgiving. Through it, he distinguishes between what the messenger conveyed regarding the rituals and the ijtihads connected to their circumstances.

The verse text as cited

AND ESTABLISH PRAYER AND GIVE ZAKAT AND OBEY THE MESSENGER THAT YOU MAY RECEIVE MERCY

Brief reading

The verse is read as an command to establish prayer, give zakat, and obey the messenger in this domain. Shahrur therefore uses it to determine the locus of obedience in the rituals, not to expand it to everything attributed to the messenger outside this sphere.

Axes

  • legislative
  • methodological
  • obedience to the messenger: 3
  • rituals: 3
  • obedience in rituals: 2
  • establishing prayer and zakat: 2
  • obligation: 2

Its place in the conceptual network

The verse is linked to prayer, zakat, obedience to the messenger, and the rituals. It is important because it helps separate the fixed ritual element from situational ijtihad.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Foundation: 5
  • Distinction: 2

Summary of its presence in the atlas

  • Obedience to the messenger is present in the clarification of the rituals.
  • Prayer and zakat are at the center of the verse.
  • It supports the distinction between the fixed and the situational.

Points of use

  • Islam and Human: He takes it as proof of the obligation to obey the messenger in explaining how to perform prayer and zakat.
    • concept: obedience to the messenger
    • function of the verse here: foundation
    • textual evidence: «{ وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ } (al-Nur 56).»
  • Islam and Faith, p. 80: He makes it the basis for the obligation to obey the messenger in explaining how to perform prayer and zakat, where their details were not set out in the Book.
    • concept: obedience to the messenger
    • function of the verse here: foundation
    • textual evidence: «{ وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ } (al-Nur 56)»
  • The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna, p. 100: He uses this verse as the basis for the obligation to obey the messenger’s instructions in the rites of Hajj and Umrah, as they are among the binding rituals.
    • concept: obedience in rituals
    • function of the verse here: foundation
    • textual evidence: «Take your rites from me.» Here the command is obligatory to obey by virtue of al-Nur 56.
  • The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna, p. 112: He contrasts it with al-fay’ to say that prayer and zakat are fixed rituals whose obedience is continuous, unlike the situational ijtihads of al-fay’.
    • concept: establishing prayer and zakat
    • function of the verse here: distinction
    • textual evidence: «Just as I left the details of establishing prayer and giving zakat to him in al-Nur 56»
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 30: He cites it to show that prayer and zakat are obligations, and that obedience to the messenger is tied to his practical determination of how they are performed.
    • concept: obligation
    • function of the verse here: foundation
    • textual evidence: «{وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ …} (al-Nur 56), and we understand that establishing prayer is an obligation, and performing zakat is an obligation»
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 101: He places it among the duties and rituals, to show that prayer and zakat are among the pillars of practical commitment in the message.
    • concept: rituals
    • function of the verse here: foundation
    • textual evidence: «1- Establishing prayer and paying zakat: { وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ } (al-Nur 56).»
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 135: He understands it as obedience to the messenger in determining how to establish prayer and give zakat, not obedience to his person as a general civil law.
    • concept: rituals
    • function of the verse here: distinction
    • textual evidence: «It occurs only once… { وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ } (al-Nur 56).»

This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas