Taha 120

4 min read

This axis brings together 4 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

Then Satan whispered to him, saying, “O Adam, shall I direct you to the Tree of Immortality and a dominion that does not decay?”

Reader’s Answer

Question

Where does Shahrur cite Taha 120, what distinction does he draw from it, and what function does it serve in his argument?

Shahrur cites the verse in The State and Society (p. 175), in his discussion of instincts and the generation of desires. He presents the offer of immortality and an imperishable dominion as an intensification of the survival instinct and an awareness of death, using this to depict humanity’s transition into humanization.

Shahrur cites Taha 120 in the context of enumerating the basic instincts and explaining their potential development into desires, linking it to the survival instinct. In the offer directed at Adam, Shahrur distinguishes between two attributes counterposed to death: immortality and non-perishing; he presents them as what Satan used to delude Adam. The verse’s function in his argument is to support his claim that the activation of the survival instinct, together with awareness of death, represented the first manifestation of the human being’s transition from the animal kingdom to humanization and prompted the pursuit of preserving life.

Citation and Location

The State and Society — p. 175.

Limits of the Reading

  • The citation establishes this use only on a specific page of The State and Society; it does not establish that this is a comprehensive interpretation of the verse throughout all of Shahrur’s works.
  • The citation does not establish that “immortality” and “non-perishing” are synonymous, nor does it deny their synonymy; rather, Shahrur mentions them as two offered attributes counterposed to death.
  • The citation does not provide an independent linguistic study of the verse’s wording or of its meaning according to other exegetes.

Continue From Here

Brief Reading

Shahrur makes the verse an example of tempting the human being through the survival instinct and attachment to the idea of immortality and non-perishing.

Axes

  • Human and ethical
  • Faith-based
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Survival instinct: 3
  • Immortality: 2
  • Readings: 2

Its Place in the Network of Concepts

It is connected to the concept of immortality within a psychological and semantic reading of Adam’s experience.

The Verse’s Role in the Argument

  • Example: 2
  • Support: 2

Instances of Use

  • The State and Society, p. 175: He uses it to link the first human transition from instinct to awareness to Satan’s attempt to entice Adam with immortality and non-perishing, making the verse an example of desire arising from the survival instinct.
    • Concept: Survival instinct
    • Function of the verse here: Example
    • Textual citation: “He brought Adam out of the forest, ‘Paradise,’ when Satan whispered to him and kindled in him the survival instinct, in His—exalted is He—saying: {Then Satan whispered to him …} (Taha 120).”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 520: He cites it to show that Satan tempted Adam through the survival instinct, by means of immortality and non-perishing.
    • Concept: Survival instinct
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “In His—exalted is He—saying, {Shall I direct you to the Tree of Immortality and a dominion that does not decay?} (Taha 120).”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 520: He employs it to show that Satan’s temptation of Adam came through what the human being understands as immortality and non-perishing.
    • Concept: Immortality
    • Function of the verse here: Example
    • Textual citation: “And he tempted him through the survival instinct in His—exalted is He—saying, {Shall I direct you to the Tree of Immortality and a dominion that does not decay?}”
  • Towards New Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 85: He cites it to support Ibn ʿAbbas’s response in preferring the reading “malakayn,” linking it to an internal Qur’anic contextual indicator within the text itself.
    • Concept: Readings
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “As indicated by His saying: {Shall I direct you to the Tree of Immortality and a dominion that does not decay?} (Taha 120).”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: the other reading: malakayn/malikayn

This page is presented within the atlas’s general atlas-building methodology.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas