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.
The Verse Text as Cited
Indeed, it is assured for you that you will neither hunger therein nor be naked, and that you will neither thirst therein nor be exposed to the sun
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Ta-Ha 118–119 in his reading of Adam’s story?
Shahrur employs the two verses to portray the beginning of Adam’s life in “the Garden” as a phase of divine care, in which he bears neither worry nor responsibility; his needs for food, clothing, water, and protection from the sun are provided for. He then links departure from this phase to the transition toward self-reliance on earth. This describes a stage in Adam’s story according to Shahrur; the verses alone do not prove the nature of the Garden or that it was not an afterlife garden.
Shahrur reads the negation of hunger, nakedness, thirst, and exposure to the sun for Adam in the Garden as indicating a phase of divine care in which he bears neither worry nor responsibility, and he later connects this phase to leaving guardianship behind and becoming self-reliant.
Citation and Location
The State and Society — p. 214.
Limits of the Reading
- The two verses enumerate the absence of hunger, nakedness, thirst, and exposure to the sun; transforming this into a “phase of care” and then into a path toward independence is Shahrur’s interpretation as presented in the citation.
- A broader claim—such as definitively determining the nature of Adam’s Garden or denying that it was an afterlife garden—should not be attributed to this citation unless an explicit text supports it.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
He uses it to portray Adam’s stage in the Garden as one of care and preparation before independence, rather than as an afterlife garden.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- The first Garden phase: 2
- Adam’s Garden: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to a reordering of Adam’s story within a historical-developmental conception that differs from the traditional reading.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Example: 1
- Critique of tradition: 1
Instances of Use
- The State and Society, p. 214: He uses the verse to portray Adam’s stage in the Garden as one of care and preparation before the transition to independence and responsibility.
- Concept: The first Garden phase
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual citation: “{Indeed, it is assured for you that you will neither hunger therein nor be naked …} (Ta-Ha 118, 119), and at this stage he needed nothing … except attention to himself.”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 207: He differs from the traditional reading that regards it as an afterlife garden, instead making it a description of a forest/terrestrial environment in which Adam lived.
- Concept: Adam’s Garden
- Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
- Textual citation: “The Qur’an has informed us that human beings appeared on earth and lived in forests in hot regions, because verses 118 and 119 of Surat Ta-Ha describe nothing more than a forest.”
- Corresponding traditional reading: Adam’s afterlife Garden
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.