This axis 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.
The Verse Text as Cited
And We said, “Descend, some of you enemies to others; and for you on earth is a dwelling place and provision for a time.”
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Al-Baqarah 36 in interpreting Adam’s departure from Paradise and life on earth?
Shahrur employs the verse as a declaration of Adam’s transition from an environment he describes as free of responsibility, in which needs were available, to earthly life, which requires self-reliance in securing one’s livelihood. In this reading, the verse establishes a phase of settlement on earth and temporary provision, rather than merely a spatial transition.
Shahrur reads God’s words, “and for you on earth is a dwelling place and provision for a time,” as a departure from divine guardianship and a transition to self-reliance in securing the necessities of life. He links this departure to Adam’s movement from a condition he describes as free of responsibility to one in which earthly life entails assuming the responsibilities of food, drink, clothing, and all other means of survival.
Evidence and Location
The State and Society — p. 214.
Limits of the Reading
- This is Shahrur’s particular interpretation of the meaning of Paradise and descent, rather than an explicit indication independently entailed by the words of the verse apart from his theoretical premises.
- The expression “divine guardianship” and the explanation of Paradise as an environment without responsibility are Shahrur’s formulations in the cited passage, not words of the verse itself.
- The cited passage is insufficient to establish that the verse concerns the emergence of society or the state; it establishes the verse’s connection to self-reliance and the responsibilities of livelihood in Shahrur’s reading.
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Brief Reading
The verse establishes Adam’s transition from the phase of guardianship to the phase of earthly life and responsibility.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- Descent: 3
- Descent to earth: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It contributes to the construction of Adam’s story by describing descent as a shift in the human condition.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 1
- Foundation: 1
- Context: 1
Instances of Use
- The State and Society, p. 214: he makes it evidence for Adam’s transition from guardianship to independence—that is, from reliance on care to assuming responsibility on earth.
- Concept: descent to earth
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “{And We said, ‘Descend, some of you enemies to others; and for you on earth is a dwelling place …’} (Al-Baqarah 36)”
- Qur’anic Narratives, Vol. 2, p. 7: he employs the verse to ground the idea of descent from Paradise within the sequence of Adam’s story.
- Concept: descent
- Function of the verse here: foundation
- Textual evidence: “And the descent from Paradise in His words, Exalted is He, {And We said, ‘Descend, some of you enemies to others …’} (Al-Baqarah 36)”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 259: he makes it a description of the qualitative transition from the phase of Paradise to the phase of temporary earthly and social life.
- Concept: descent
- Function of the verse here: context
- Textual evidence: “Thus he underwent a qualitative transition, indicated by the Exalted One in His words, {Then Satan caused them both to slip …}”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.