This node brings together 3 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The verse text as cited
They said, “By God, God has surely preferred you over us, and indeed we were sinners.”
Reader’s answer
Question
Where does the verse occur, what does Shahrur mean by describing Joseph’s brothers as “sinners,” and what function does it serve in his argument?
The verse occurs in Surat Yusuf (91). Shahrur makes it an example of how the description “sinners” pertains to an act committed deliberately and persistently, drawing on Joseph’s brothers’ plotting against him. Its function in the attached passage is to support this specification of the meaning of the description, rather than to establish a broader ruling than that.
Shahrur presents Yusuf 91 as an example of the description of Joseph’s brothers as “sinners,” because their plotting against Joseph was, in his account, undertaken deliberately and persistently.
Citation and location
Islam and Faith — p. 107.
Limits of the reading
- The citation establishes this interpretive use in the context of Joseph’s brothers’ plotting, but does not by itself establish an exhaustive and exclusive definition of the term “sinners.”
- The citation does not state a relation of synonymy or distinction between “sinners” and other Qur’anic terms; therefore, none is inferred here.
- The verse’s function in the argument is limited to citing it as evidence for the association of the description with deliberation and persistence, as Shahrur maintains in the attached passage.
Continue from here
Brief reading
The verse is read as an example of sin committed with deliberation and persistence, in which the agents are described as sinners.
Axes
- Human and ethical
- Narrative and historical
Related concepts
- Persistence: 2
- Deliberate sin: 2
- Deliberate error: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It serves the network of concepts that distinguishes between an incidental mistake and intentional sin.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Example: 3
Instances of use
- Islam and the Human Being: He cites it to affirm that the error here occurred with deliberation and persistence; hence, he called them sinners.
- Concept: Persistence
- The verse’s function here: Example
- Textual citation: “Since Joseph’s brothers plotted against him deliberately and persistently, they said: { They said, ‘By God, God has surely preferred you over us, and indeed we were sinners.’ } (Yusuf 91)”
- Islam and the Human Being: He makes Joseph’s brothers’ statement an example of one who commits sin with prior persistence and awareness and is therefore called a sinner.
- Concept: Deliberate sin
- The verse’s function here: Example
- Textual citation: “Since Joseph’s brothers plotted against him deliberately and persistently, they said: - { They said, ‘By God, … and indeed we were sinners.’ } (Yusuf 91),”
- Islam and Faith, p. 107: He uses it as an example of acknowledging a deliberate error against Joseph.
- Concept: Deliberate error
- The verse’s function here: Example
- Textual citation: “- { They said, ‘By God, God has surely preferred you over us, and indeed we were sinners.’ } (Yusuf 91),”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.