This axis gathers 3 places where this verse is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the verse as cited
And had your Lord willed, He would have made the people one community, but they will continue to differ * except those on whom your Lord has mercy; and for that He created them
Brief reading
The two verses are taken as a foundation for the idea that difference among people is intended, and that likeness or forced unity may not be imposed.
Axes
- Methodological
- Political and social
- Faith-based
Related concepts
- Diversity of cultures: 3
- Difference: 2
- Human freedom: 1
Its place in the network of concepts
It is linked to the concept of freedom and to social laws in explaining diversity.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Establishing: 2
- Supporting: 1
Uses
- Islam and the Human Being: He builds on it to argue that difference among people is the result of the human freedom willed by God, not a deficiency that requires coercion or uniformity.
- Concept: Difference
- Function of the verse here: Establishing
- Textual evidence: «{ وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً … } (Hud 118-119)»
- The State and Society, p. 237: He cites it as evidence that cultural difference is intended according to social law and that forced unity may not be imposed.
- Concept: Diversity of cultures
- Function of the verse here: Supporting
- Textual evidence: «as in His saying: {وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ …} (Hud 118, 119). For the diversity of cultures is the purpose of creation»
- The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought, p. 23: He cites it as evidence that difference is the purpose of creation, and that imposing a single culture by force contradicts the divine laws.
- Concept: Diversity of cultures
- Function of the verse here: Establishing
- Textual evidence: «{وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً…} (Hud 118, 119)»
Related books
This page is presented within the general methodology of atlas construction.