This axis brings together two instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the verse as cited
And He is the One who brought forth gardens, trellised and untrellised, palm trees and crops diverse in their produce, olives and pomegranates, alike and unlike. Eat of their fruit when they bear fruit, and give its due on the day of its harvest; and do not be excessive—indeed, He does not love the excessive.
Reader’s answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Qur’an 6:141 in interpreting the diversity of plants?
In his reading, Shahrur employs the verse as a statement of a law governing the diversity of plant species: an internal dialectical movement that leads to development and diversity, whose effect appears in the diversity of produce. This reports Shahrur’s interpretation, not a meaning established by the verse alone.
Shahrur links God’s words, “palm trees and crops diverse in their produce,” to the diversity of plant species and their produce. He maintains that “dialectical movement” is the law governing the diversity of plant species, and that it contains the secret of development.
Citation and location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 197.
Limits of the reading
- The citation is from Shahrur’s own words and establishes the attribution of this usage to him, not the scientific or interpretive validity of his claim.
- The cited passage conveys a context beginning with another verse containing “from a single root and from different roots,” then cites Qur’an 6:141 and explicitly applies his idea to it; the wording of the two verses should therefore not be conflated, nor should “from a single root and from different roots” be attributed to Qur’an 6:141.
- The quoted text breaks off after the phrase “and when He mentioned”; it therefore establishes the explicitly stated connection, not the subsequent details of the argument that were not included.
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Brief reading
It underpins the idea that the diversity of plants results from an internal dialectical movement that generates diversity.
Axes
- Methodological
- Linguistic and semantic
Related concepts
- Plant dialectics: 2
- Diversity and mutation: 1
- Similarity: 1
Place in the conceptual network
It belongs to a reading that treats natural phenomena as an entry point for understanding movement in the universe.
Role of the verse in the argument
- Foundational: 1
- Distinction: 1
Instances of use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 197: He makes it a basis for explaining that the diversity of plants results from an internal dialectical movement that generates diversity and mutation.
- Concept: Plant dialectics
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual citation: “This verse came to show that the dialectical movement in which the secret of development lies is the law governing the diversity of species in plants.”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 103: He stresses that his use of “muhkam” here does not concern the division between muhkam and mutashabih in Al ‘Imran.
- Concept: Similarity
- Function of the verse here: Distinction
- Textual citation: “… it also has no relation to the mutashabih mentioned in Al ‘Imran 7.”
- Corresponding traditional reading: the mutashabih mentioned in Al ‘Imran 7
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.