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
Have you not seen that God sent down water from the sky and caused it to flow as springs in the earth …
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Qur’an 39:21 in his discussion of knowledge and inference?
Shahrur employs the verse as an example of deductive inference: he proceeds from the general statement, “and caused it to flow as springs in the earth,” to the particular conclusion that any given spring ultimately derives from the waters of the sky, such as rain and snow. Thus, his direct use of the verse here is not to set forth a detailed scientific theory of groundwater, but to present an example of moving from a general rule to a particular case.
The clear answer: Shahrur regards the verse as a model of “deductive inference,” that is, movement from the general to the particular. The general rule for him is that the springs of the earth are based on the waters of the sky; he then applies this to a specific spring. He mentions the Fija Spring as an example, inferring that its source is rain or snow. How Shahrur employs the verse: he includes it in an explanation of two types of inference and assigns it specifically to deduction, because he considers the conclusion concerning a particular spring to be contained within the general principle he derives from the verse. He then compares this with another verse, which he connects to both induction and deduction. The evidence and its location: in The State and Society, p. 33, after citing the verse, Shahrur says that deductive inference is movement from the general to the particular, then states: “All the springs of the earth are based on rainwater.” He gives the Fija Spring as an example in order to infer that it comes from the “waters of the sky (rain, snow).”
Evidence and Location
The State and Society — p. 33.
Limits of the Reading
- This page relies on one direct piece of evidence from The State and Society (p. 33), because it explicitly explains Shahrur’s use of the verse.
- The occurrence of the verse in Islam and Humanity within a preliminary question is not sufficient, on the basis of the supplied text, to support a detailed interpretation or a critique of tradition specific to the verse.
- What is attributed to Shahrur here is his method of inference, not an independent judgment on the scientific accuracy of the generalization concerning all springs.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
Shahrur makes it an example of how the Qur’an opens the way to scientific knowledge of nature rather than merely traditional readings.
Axes
- Methodological
- Linguistic and semantic
- Narrative and historical
Related Concepts
- Scientific knowledge: 2
- Natural transformation: 2
- Deduction: 2
- Natural sciences: 2
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It is connected to the method of deduction and to the domain of natural science in the reading of the text.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Example: 4
Instances of Use
- Islam and Humanity, p. 40: he makes it an example of the Qur’an’s containing knowledge about groundwater and plants, and of tradition’s failure to understand it.
- Concept: scientific knowledge
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual evidence: “- { Have you not seen that God sent down water from the sky … } (Al-Zumar 21)”
- Islam and Humanity, p. 42: he cites it alongside the verse of creation to affirm that the Qur’anic text encourages the understanding of natural transformations through a scientific mindset.
- Concept: natural transformation
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual evidence: “- { Have you not seen that God sent down water from the sky … } (Al-Zumar 21)”
- The State and Society, p. 33: he employs it as an example of deductive inference from the general to the particular within his epistemological method.
- Concept: deduction
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual evidence: “{Have you not seen that God sent down water from the sky and caused it to flow as springs…} (Al-Zumar 21),”
- The State and Society, pp. 153–154: he makes it an example of how the verse opens the way to the science of groundwater and plant sciences, and of tradition’s failure to make scientific use of it.
- Concept: natural sciences
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual evidence: “{Have you not seen that God sent down water from the sky…} (Al-Zumar 21)”
- Contrasting traditional reading: tradition contains only a few pages on these matters, most of them erroneous.
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.