This axis brings together 1 instance of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
And He has enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving as long as I live.
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Qur’anic statement, “And He has enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving as long as I live,” in his understanding of the term “prayer”?
Shahrur employs the verse as an example showing that “prayer” here is ritual prayer, rather than merely “connection.” He bases this on the pairing of prayer with almsgiving in the verse, and places it among other examples whose context, in his view, indicates the known form of worship, including bowing and prostration.
Shahrur considers Mary 31 to be one of the passages in which “prayer” denotes ritual prayer. He bases this classification on his observation that the term prayer, in passages of the Wise Revelation, is paired with observance or almsgiving, or occurs in a context that, in his view, indicates standing, sitting, bowing, and prostration, rather than the meaning of connection.
Evidence and Location
Islam and Faith — p. 255.
Limits of the Reading
- The evidence establishes that Shahrur included Mary 31 among examples of ritual prayer, but the excerpt does not provide an independent proof specific to the verse beyond the pairing of prayer with almsgiving.
- It is not valid to attribute a particular ritual detail, such as the number of prayers or their practical forms, to this verse on the basis of this evidence alone.
- The evidence does not establish that every pairing of prayer and almsgiving necessarily leads to the same conclusion outside the framework of Shahrur’s reading.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
Shahrur includes it with other verses in order to make it an example of ritual prayer associated with observance.
Axes
- Legal
- Faith-related
Related Concepts
- Prayer: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to distinguishing the meaning of prayer in Qur’anic legal usage.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Example: 1
Usage Locations
- Islam and Faith, p. 255: He includes it with al-Baqarah 3 and al-Ma’idah 91 to affirm that prayer here is ritual prayer associated with observance.
- Concept: prayer
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual evidence: “- {And He made me blessed… and enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving as long as I live} (Mary 31).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.