This theme 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 Text of the Verse as Cited
And provide you with wealth and children
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ God’s saying, “And provide you with wealth and children,” in his interpretation of the course of human stability and civilization?
Shahrur employs the verse within a historical conception of civilization: for him, “wealth” is connected to financing resulting from the abundance of foodstuffs after agriculture and the domestication of livestock, while “children” is connected to buildings, not to male offspring. He thus reads the promise in the verse as a provision of the means of financing and construction associated with human settlement and the emergence of architecture.
Shahrur states that the concept of financing emerged, in his conception, after the domestication of livestock and the emergence of agriculture, and he links the word “wealth” in Noah’s verse to this financing. Shahrur reads “children” in Noah’s verse as related to buildings and construction, and takes the conjunction of wealth and children to signify financing, construction, and civilization.
Evidence and Location
the Book and the Qur’an — p. 505.
Limits of the Reading
- The evidence itself directly links the verse to financing and buildings, and therefore serves as a single precise piece of evidence for this claim.
- Shahrur’s interpretation of the term “children” is not presented as an agreed-upon interpretation, but as an interpretive premise specific to his reading.
- The two accompanying quotations are repetitions of the same text; they therefore do not constitute two independent pieces of evidence.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
For Shahrur, the verse is linked to the emergence of financing and its relation to stability, construction, and material development in human life.
Themes
- Political and social
- Legislative
Related Concepts
- Financing: 3
- Wealth: 1
- Stability: 1
- Construction: 1
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It belongs to the network of wealth and financing as part of social civilization.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 2
Instances of Use
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 505: He links it to the emergence of the concept of financing and the development of stability and construction in human life.
- Concept: Financing
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “Hence the word amwāl [wealth] came from financing, when Noah promised them in his prophethood, {AND PROVIDE YOU WITH WEALTH AND CHILDREN} (Noah 12).”
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 520: He uses it to link wealth to the emergence of financing and material development associated with construction and stability.
- Concept: Financing
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “Hence the word amwāl [wealth] came from financing, when Noah promised them in his prophethood, {AND PROVIDE YOU WITH WEALTH AND CHILDREN}.”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.