This 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 verse text as cited
When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, “Be,” and it is
Reader’s answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur read God’s saying, “When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is,” in the context of divine decree and human freedom?
Shahrur uses the verse to distinguish between two types of what is called “decree”: a decree that comes in the form of a command or prohibition that a human being may violate, and an effective decree associated with the phrase “Be, and it is.” He therefore does not regard decree as evidence of comprehensive determinism; rather, he confines inevitable efficacy to what falls under this Qur’anic condition as he reads it.
Shahrur distinguishes between a decree expressed as a command or prohibition, such as the command to worship and to honor one’s parents, and the effective decree that the verse describes as God’s saying to a thing, “Be, and it is.” On the basis of this distinction, Shahrur rejects an understanding of decree and predestination as determinism that abolishes human freedom and decisions.
Citation and location
State and Society — p. 23.
Limits of the reading
- This page documents Shahrur’s use of the verse; it does not establish that this is the only or normative interpretation of the verse.
- The citation from “State and Society” explains the distinction through the example of al-Israʾ 23, but it does not provide here a detailed proof for all the conclusions of the theory of decree and predestination.
- Describing the natural domain as “the laws of existence” is an approximate summary; the cited text speaks specifically of natural events and phenomena and of a general law.
- The citation alone does not justify concluding that all ethical commands are temporary or optional in the same sense; what is established is the possibility of violating some of the forms of command and prohibition cited by Shahrur.
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Brief reading
The verse serves to distinguish between the effective divine decree in the laws of existence and contingent commands that may be chosen otherwise.
Axes
- Methodological
- Faith-related
Related concepts
- Irrevocable decree: 2
- Contingent command: 2
- Laws of existence: 1
Its place in the network of concepts
It serves to separate what is fixed in the universe from what is variable in discourse.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Distinction: 1
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- State and Society, p. 23: He makes it the criterion for the effective divine decree that pertains to the laws of existence, rather than to ethical commands that may be chosen otherwise.
- Concept: irrevocable decree
- Function of the verse here: distinction
- Textual citation: “{When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is} (Maryam 35).”
- Corresponding traditional reading: extending the efficacy of decree to all human actions
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 64: He makes it an example of the variable part of the Qur’an, as a contingent divine command in nature rather than a fixed law.
- Concept: contingent command
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “{Glory be to Him! When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is} (Maryam 35)”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.