This thematic node brings together 2 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 God sets forth as a parable a town that was secure and at ease, its provision coming to it abundantly from every place; but it disbelieved in God’s blessings, so God made it taste the garment of hunger and fear because of what they used to do (112). And there had certainly come to them a messenger from among them, but they denied him; so the punishment seized them while they were wrongdoers.}
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Al-Nahl 112–113, and what does the available evidence establish about his reading of them?
In the available direct evidence, Shahrur employs the two verses among verses concerning towns to which a messenger or warner comes and upon which then hardship or punishment descends. The verses themselves describe a town that moved from security and ample provision to the “garment of hunger and fear” after disbelieving in God’s blessings and denying its messenger. Elsewhere, Shahrur explicitly favors a figurative reading of “garment” in the phrase: “So God made it taste the garment of hunger and fear.”
The two verses make the town an example of the disappearance of security and prosperity, and the occurrence of hunger, fear, and punishment, after its disbelief in God’s blessings and its denial of a messenger from among itself. Shahrur cites Al-Nahl 112–113 within a set of verses about towns: their destruction or their being afflicted with adversity, hardship, or punishment, alongside mention of warners or prophets being sent to them.
Evidence and Location
The State and Society — p. 84.
Limits of the Reading
- The evidence from The State and Society cites the two verses within a list of verses and does not include an extended explanation of Shahrur’s conclusions from them.
- The evidence from Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence establishes his preference for a figurative meaning of the term “garment,” but the excerpt does not explain the full construction of the argument or the implications of this preference.
- The mere similarity between the appearance of the verses in the context of towns and the themes of the state or society is insufficient to establish a broader interpretive relationship.
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Brief Reading
The verse is read as an example of a town punished for disbelieving in God’s blessings and denying the messenger, and it is also used to demonstrate the figurative meaning of garment.
Themes
- Narrative and historical
- Human and ethical
Related Concepts
- Disbelief in blessings: 2
- Garment: 2
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It links a historical example with a figurative linguistic indication.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Support: 1
- Example: 1
Instances of Use
- The State and Society, p. 84: He reads it as an example of a town punished after disbelieving in God’s blessings and denying the messenger.
- Concept: disbelief in blessings
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “{And God sets forth as a parable a town … so God made it taste the garment of hunger and fear … and there had certainly come to them a messenger from among them, but they denied him}”
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 272: He cites it to establish figurative usage of garment in the sense of a condition or psychological effect.
- Concept: garment
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual evidence: “{So God made it taste the garment of hunger and fear} (Al-Nahl 112)”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.