This verse recurs in Shahrur’s work because it provides him with a linguistic basis for the meaning of kufr, and because it connects worldly life with the sphere of human action. It therefore appears in contexts that bring together linguistic signification and the construction of a view of worldly life.
The Verse Text as Cited
Like rain whose vegetation pleases the cultivators; then it withers, and you see it turn yellow; then it becomes debris.
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Shahrur employ the phrase “whose vegetation pleases the cultivators” in Al-Hadid 20, and does he treat it as evidence for the meaning of kufr?
Shahrur cites the verse to support a direct linguistic meaning of “kufr”: covering and concealing. In this context, “the cultivators” are, for him, agricultural workers who place seeds in the ground and cover them with soil, rather than disbelievers in the doctrinal sense. From this linguistic meaning, he proceeds in his book to a broader definition of kufr as the denial or concealment of what is known. However, the claim that the verse rejects an absolute condemnation of worldly life is not established by this linguistic evidence alone, even though Shahrur addresses the verse elsewhere in the context of worldly life.
Shahrur employs “whose vegetation pleases the cultivators” as evidence that “kufr” in this context means covering and concealing, explaining “the cultivators” as farmers who cover seeds with soil. On the basis of this material usage, Shahrur develops a broader linguistic definition of kufr as “covering, concealing, and denying what exists,” then distinguishes it from doctrinal kufr.
Evidence and Location
Islam and Faith — p. 23.
Limits of the Reading
- The evidence establishes Shahrur’s use of the verse to explain the agricultural meaning of “the cultivators,” but does not by itself establish all the verse’s implications or its complete interpretation of the stages of worldly life and the Hereafter.
- Generalizing the meaning of covering from this context to every use of kufr is part of Shahrur’s linguistic construction, rather than a conclusion imposed by this evidence alone.
- Do not include the link to “Islam and the Human Being” as evidence for this reading unless it is accompanied by a direct quotation mentioning the verse or this meaning.
Continue from Here
Brief Reading
Shahrur reads it as indicating that kufr, in its original meaning, is covering and concealing, as a farmer does when covering seed. At the same time, he uses it to affirm that worldly life is the sphere in which God’s servants act, whether in obedience or disobedience, rather than an object of absolute condemnation.
Axes
- Linguistic and semantic
- Methodological
Related Concepts
- Kufr: 3
- Linguistic kufr: 2
- Proliferation: 2
- Worldly life: 2
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
The verse is connected to the reconstruction of the signification of kufr from within the language, and to understanding worldly life as a field of action rather than merely a negative value. It therefore combines linguistic meaning with the general depiction of the sphere of testing.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Example: 3
- Support: 1
- Foundational: 1
Summary of Its Presence in the Atlas
- A linguistic basis for the meaning of kufr
- Connects worldly life to human action
- Present in the construction of signification and meaning
Contexts of Use
- Islam and the Human Being: He interprets it linguistically as meaning covering and concealing, just as a farmer covers seed with soil.
- Concept: kufr
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual evidence: “{ … like rain whose vegetation pleases the cultivators … } (Al-Hadid 20)”
- Islam and the Human Being: He uses it to clarify the original meaning of kufr as covering and concealing, like covering seeds with soil.
- Concept: linguistic kufr
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual evidence: “The verb ‘kafara’ occurs in this direct material linguistic sense in His, exalted be He, saying: { … like rain whose vegetation pleases the cultivators … } (Al-Hadid 20).”
- Islam and Faith, p. 23: He uses it to affirm that attachment to wealth and children is part of the instinct for survival, not of an innate asceticism.
- Concept: proliferation
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual evidence: “- {Know that worldly life is only… and proliferation in wealth and children…} (Al-Hadid 20).”
- Islam and Faith, p. 127: He uses it as the overarching framework for understanding worldly life as a sphere for worshipping God through obedience and disobedience, rather than as an object of absolute condemnation.
- Concept: worldly life
- Function of the verse here: foundational
- Textual evidence: “Thus, we can now connect His, exalted be He, saying … with His, exalted be He, saying: {Know that worldly life is play, diversion, adornment, and mutual boasting …} (Al-Hadid 20).”
- Corresponding traditional reading: the understanding that regards it as an object of condemnation and ascetic renunciation
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 43: He cites it to affirm that kufr, linguistically, is concealment and covering, including the sense of a farmer covering seed.
- Concept: kufr
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual evidence: “This meaning occurs in His, exalted be He, saying: {Like rain whose vegetation pleases the cultivators} (Al-Hadid 20).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.