This entry 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 on the earth are neighboring tracts, gardens of grapevines, crops, and palm trees—clustered and non-clustered—watered with one water; yet We favor some of them over others in fruit. Surely in that are signs for a people who understand.
Reader’s answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Qur’an 13:4 in his discussion of plant evolution?
In his interpretation, Shahrur employs the verse as evidence for one of the stages of evolution that he calls “dispersal.” He focuses in particular on the pairing of “clustered and non-clustered” in the description of palm trees watered by the same water, and infers from it the presence of contradictory elements within a single thing: one tendency toward closeness and another toward transformation into what is not close. He then connects this internal movement to what he calls mutation and the movement of evolution in nature.
Shahrur states that Qur’an 13:4 demonstrates, in his view, one of the stages of evolution that he calls “dispersal.” He holds that the phrase “clustered and non-clustered” describes the same single thing, rather than two separate things, because, as he says, the verse does not state: “clustered, and another non-clustered.” On the basis of this understanding, Shahrur develops a conception of a conflict between contradictory elements within palm trees: between remaining close and transforming into what is not close. He considers this the secret of the movement of evolution in nature.
Citation and location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 197.
Limits of the reading
- The citation conveys Shahrur’s interpretation of the verse and does not provide independent documentation establishing the hypothesis of mutation or internal conflict in plants.
- The citation does not establish that “clustered and non-clustered” is a scientific term in evolution; this connection is part of Shahrur’s interpretive construction.
- The argument here is specific to Shahrur’s reading of the palm trees in the verse and should not be generalized to other verses merely on the basis of verbal similarity.
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Brief reading
He reads it as a scene from the stages of evolution in plants, where the difference between clustered and non-clustered indicates an internal mutation within a single thing.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Methodological
Related concepts
- Plant diversity: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It supports a natural example within an evolutionary interpretive framework.
Role of the verse in the argument
- Example: 1
Places of use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 197: He reads it as a scene from the stages of evolution in plants, where the difference between clustered and non-clustered indicates an internal mutation within a single thing.
- Concept: Plant diversity
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual citation: “In this verse, he demonstrates one of the stages of evolution, ‘dispersal’ … through the phrase {CLUSTERED AND NON-CLUSTERED}”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.