This axis brings together 1 locus of use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the verse as cited
{But if they turn away, say: “I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt of ʿĀd and Thamūd.”}
Reader’s answer
Question
Where does the verse occur, what does Shahrur distinguish in it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
The verse is Fussilat 13. Shahrur presents it within a comparison between the occurrence of the thunderbolt in the punishment of ʿĀd and Thamūd and other descriptions of their punishment found in other verses; its function here is to open this comparison, not to define the thunderbolt as a collective term.
Shahrur presents Fussilat 13 as a verse mentioning the thunderbolt of ʿĀd and Thamūd, after referring to other passages in which the punishment of Thamūd is described as the Cry and the earthquake, and that of ʿĀd as a furious, violent wind. In the context of the passage, the verse serves to introduce Shahrur’s comparison between the multiple descriptions of punishment reported for ʿĀd and Thamūd in the verses he cites.
Citation and location
State and Society — p. 92.
Limits of the reading
- The cited passage does not explicitly state that the “thunderbolt” is a collective term for everything that befell ʿĀd and Thamūd.
- This passage alone does not establish either the synonymity of the thunderbolt, the Cry, the earthquake, and the wind, or the denial of synonymity among them.
- The accompanying citation breaks off while presenting the following verse; therefore, it does not establish what Shahrur may conclude later in the chapter.
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Brief reading
It is cited to show that the thunderbolt is a collective term for the severe punishment that befell ʿĀd and Thamūd.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
Related concepts
- Thunderbolt: 2
- ʿĀd: 1
- Thamūd: 1
- Severe punishment: 1
Its place in the conceptual network
It connects punishment with its historical occurrences in Qur’anic narratives.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 1
Loci of use
- State and Society, p. 92: It is cited to show that the thunderbolt is a collective term for the severe punishment that befell ʿĀd and Thamūd.
- Concept: Thunderbolt
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “{But if they turn away, say: ‘I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt of ʿĀd and Thamūd.’}”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.