This axis brings together 1 locus where this verse is used in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the verse as cited
And We did not create the heaven and the earth and what is between them in vain
Reader’s answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Qur’anic statement, “And We did not create the heaven and the earth and what is between them in vain,” in his discussion of the universe and knowledge?
Shahrur employs the verse to establish that cosmic existence is an objective, real existence, created “in truth”; it is neither an illusion nor a merely mental conception. Accordingly, he regards the universe as a legitimate field of study through the tools of human knowledge, science, and proof.
Shahrur links Ṣād 27 to other verses that describe the creation of the heavens and the earth as being “in truth,” and maintains that objective existence is created in truth and is real, not illusory. From the reality of objective existence, Shahrur proceeds to argue that its study requires epistemic tools for understanding the universe and its entities. He places science, scientific proof, theories of inquiry, and demonstration within the domain of studying objective existence, distinguishing this from the study of divine existence, which he says does not fall within the domain of human epistemology.
Citation and location
The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought — p. 37.
Limits of the reading
- The citation presents Shahrur’s reading and the verse’s epistemic function for him; by itself, it is insufficient to establish that the verse founds a detailed scientific method or yields particular scientific results.
- “Not in vain” should not be reduced to a single meaning without recognizing that Shahrur reads it here together with the phrase “in truth” as evidence for the reality of objective existence.
- The distinction between objective existence and divine existence, and the limits of epistemology in studying them, is Shahrur’s assertion in this passage, not a conclusion explained by the text of the verse alone.
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Brief reading
He draws on it to affirm the negation of purposelessness in creation and to open the way to reading the universe as purposeful.
Axes
- Faith-based
- Methodological
Related concepts
- Falsehood: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It serves to construct a view that grounds the meaning of purpose in creation and knowledge.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 1
Usage loci
- The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought, p. 37: He uses it to deny purposelessness in creation and to support the claim that studying the universe is possible and intended.
- Concept: falsehood
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “- {And We did not create the heaven and the earth and what is between them in vain …} (Ṣād 27)”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.