Āl ʿImrān 93

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This locus brings together 3 instances 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

All food was lawful for the Children of Israel except what Israel had forbidden to himself

Reader’s answer

Question

Does the verse, “All food was lawful for the Children of Israel,” make lawfulness the default principle for food in Shahrur’s thought?

Yes. Shahrur employs the verse as evidence that lawfulness is the default in food and that prohibition is an exception. In the context of the Children of Israel, the verse states that all food was lawful for them except what Israel had forbidden to himself before the Torah was revealed. He then builds on this, in his discussion of livestock, to argue that permission and prohibition pertain to the act rather than to the thing itself: for him, making livestock lawful means permitting their slaughter, consumption, and beneficial use, while what has been expressly excepted remains prohibited. He exempts from this rule the matter of killing a living being—including humans, animals, and plants—making inviolability its default and permissibility the exception.

Shahrur adduces Āl ʿImrān 93 to maintain that what is lawful is the default in food and that what is prohibited is an exception. He connects this rule to the verse making livestock lawful and interprets this as permission to slaughter livestock for eating and benefit, rather than as a ruling inherent in the things themselves. Shahrur exempts the killing of a living being—human, animal, or plant—and holds that inviolability in this matter is the default, while permissibility is the exception.

Citation and location

Qur’anic Stories, vol. 2 — p. 49.

Limits of the reading

  • The citation establishes that Shahrur himself reads the verse as evidence for the rule that “what is lawful is the default,” but at this point he does not offer an independent argument for generalizing the ruling from the food of the Children of Israel to every category of food in every context.
  • One should not attribute a detailed definition of livestock, or the exclusion of particular types, to the verse that is the subject of this page; this is part of Shahrur’s application in his interpretation of the livestock verses, not a meaning entailed by the wording of Āl ʿImrān 93 alone.
  • The other citation from “The Book and the Qur’an” does no more than juxtapose this verse with Qur’an 4:160 without explaining their relationship; it therefore cannot serve as independent evidence for this claim.

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Brief reading

The verse supports the rule that what is lawful is the default in food, and that prohibition comes as a historical or legislative exception.

Axes

  • Legislative
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Methodological
  • The default regarding things: 2
  • What is lawful and the default: 2
  • The default in food: 2
  • Exceptional prohibition: 1

Its place in the conceptual network

It contributes to constructing a general default principle that precedes later exceptions in matters of food.

Role of the verse in the argument

  • Support: 3

Atlas pages that refer to this verse

These links gather pages that rely on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.

Instances of use

  • Qur’anic Stories, vol. 2, p. 49: He adduces it to establish that what is lawful is the default in foods and that prohibition is an exception, applying this to livestock.
    • Concept: The default regarding things
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “By virtue of His saying, exalted be He: { All food was lawful for the Children of Israel except what Israel had forbidden to himself …} (Āl ʿImrān 93)”
  • Qur’anic Stories, vol. 2, p. 49: He adduces it to establish that the default regarding things is permissibility and that prohibition is an exception, rather than an attribute inherent in things themselves.
    • Concept: What is lawful and the default
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “By virtue of His saying, exalted be He: { All food was lawful for the Children of Israel except what Israel had forbidden to himself …} (Āl ʿImrān 93).”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 391: He uses it to establish that later prohibitions were a historical exception rather than a permanent default.
    • Concept: The default in food
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “– {All food was lawful for the Children of Israel…} (Āl ʿImrān 93)”

This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas