This locus gathers 1 instance of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
And We supplied them with fruit and meat, whatever they desired
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Shahrur employ Al-Tur 22 to distinguish between instinct and desire in food?
Shahrur cites the verse among verses in which desire is connected to food, in order to establish that filling the stomach is an instinct, whereas choosing the type of food and processing and preparing it according to human knowledge falls within the realm of desires. He therefore reads the mention of meat “whatever they desired” as an example of this latter level.
Shahrur employs Al-Tur 22 among examples of desire relating to food and drink, linking this to human demand and preference arising from knowledge rather than to involuntary behavior. Shahrur distinguishes between filling the stomach as an instinct and the type of food and the manner of its processing and preparation as a domain in which desires arise; he takes prepared meat as an example of this.
Citation and Location
The State and Society — p. 179.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation establishes this distinction within the context of Shahrur’s discussion of instincts and desires; it does not establish that the verse itself provides an independent definition of food or meat.
- Shahrur’s statement should not be reduced to the claim that all meat is a desire; his example concerns processed or prepared meat, as well as choice and the method of preparation.
- The citation does not establish an exegetical relationship or synonymy between the terms of the verse and those of other verses merely because they share the term “desire.”
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Brief Reading
The verse is used as an example for distinguishing food as an instinctive need from meat after preparation as one of the desires.
Axes
- Human and Ethical
- Linguistic and Semantic
Related Concepts
- Dietary desires: 2
- Food: 1
- Instinct: 1
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It serves the semantic distinction between the basis of nourishment and the status of desire.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Example: 1
Sites of Use
- The State and Society, p. 179: He uses it to show that meat, after preparation and cooking, becomes one of the desires, unlike food in its basic form as an instinct for survival.
- Concept: Dietary desires
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual citation: “- {And We supplied them with fruit and meat, whatever they desired} (Al-Tur 22)”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.