This locus brings together 2 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
And your Lord inspired the bee: “Take for yourselves dwellings in the mountains…”
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Qur’an 16:68 in his discussion of human fiṭra?
Shahrur employs God’s saying, “And your Lord inspired the bee…,” as an example of an innate inspiration that directs a living being toward conduct suited to its nature. He then connects this example to human fiṭra, holding that fiṭra directs human beings to affirm one God and to perform righteous deeds. For him, the verse is not an independent presentation of the details of bees’ lives, but rather evidence within an argument defining Islam as the religion of fiṭra.
Shahrur explicitly states that Islam is fiṭra, and that the foundations of righteous action should accord with human beings’ created dispositions. After discussing fiṭra, he cites Qur’an 16:68 and makes the inspiration of the bee an example of what he calls the fiṭra that inspires a being toward conduct that preserves it and accords with its nature.
Evidence and Location
Islam and Faith — p. 16.
Limits of the Reading
- The available evidence establishes Shahrur’s use of the verse within his discussion of fiṭra in the book Islam and Faith; it does not establish that this use should be attributed to the book Islam and Humanity.
- The excerpt does not offer a detailed linguistic interpretation of the word “inspired” in the verse of the Bees, nor an independent proof that the inspiration mentioned there is equivalent to fiṭra; rather, it presents this within Shahrur’s overall reading.
- The evidence should not be extended into the claim that Shahrur interprets all forms of inspiration in the Qur’an as fiṭra, since the excerpt does not support such a generalization.
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Brief Reading
Shahrur cites the verse as an example of creatures’ innate inspiration in order to clarify the meaning of fiṭra in human beings.
Axes
- Faith-related
- Linguistic and semantic
Related Concepts
- Innate inspiration: 2
- Fiṭra: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It brings human fiṭra and natural inspiration into proximity.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Example: 2
Contexts of Use
- Islam and Humanity: He uses it as an analogy for human fiṭra, which guides a being toward what suits it by nature.
- Concept: Innate inspiration
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual evidence: “- { And your Lord inspired the bee … } (The Bees 68)”
- Islam and Faith, p. 16: He cites it as an example of creatures’ innate inspiration in order to clarify the meaning of fiṭra in human beings.
- Concept: Fiṭra
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual evidence: “- { And your Lord inspired the bee: ‘Take for yourselves dwellings in the mountains…’ } (The Bees 68).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.