This axis brings together 1 locus 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 We certainly destroyed the generations before you when they did wrong, and their messengers came to them with clear proofs, but they would not believe. Thus do We recompense the criminal people.}
Reader’s Answer
Question
Where does Shahrur cite Yunus 13, what distinction does he draw from it between torment and destruction, and what function does the verse serve in his argument?
Shahrur cites the verse in The State and Society (p. 93), in his discussion of the relationship between torment and destruction. He makes it an example of the occurrence of destruction, then maintains that torment is the instrument through which destruction takes place, whereas destruction is the resulting fate.
Shahrur cites Yunus 13 as an example of verses mentioning destruction in the context of his inquiry into the relationship between torment and destruction. He distinguishes between torment as the means or instrument by which destruction occurs, and destruction as the fate to which the community comes after torment.
Citation and Location
The State and Society — p. 93.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation does not offer a detailed analysis of all the terms in Yunus 13; rather, it uses it as an example within a broader construction concerning the relationship between torment and destruction.
- The citation does not establish that the verse alone is the source of the distinction; Shahrur formulates it after comparing verses that mention torment with verses that mention destruction.
- The citation does not attribute a judgment of synonymy, or its denial, between the two terms; what it establishes is the functional distinction between the means and the fate.
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Brief Reading
The verse is used to indicate the destruction of unjust nations after messengers came to them with clear proofs.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Political and social
Related Concepts
- Destruction: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It places the historical consequence of wrongdoing within the network of Qur’anic narratives.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 1
Loci of Use
- The State and Society, p. 93: He uses it to show that destruction befell unjust nations after messengers came to them with clear proofs.
- Concept: destruction
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “{And We certainly destroyed the generations before you when they did wrong, and their messengers came to them with clear proofs.}”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.