Intended Meaning
Shahrur defines cattle as domesticated herbivorous animals and thus does not restrict their use to meat; rather, it includes warmth, beauty, carrying loads, hides, and wool
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Argument movement: it defines cattle functionally, expanding the scope of benefit derived from them.
- Key terms: cattle, domesticated animals, herbivores, warmth, hides.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
This atom presents a specific definition of the concept of cattle, and shows that their value is not confined to meat, but extends to other forms of benefit that the non-specialist reader can easily understand.
Reading aids
- Muhammad Shahrur al-Qisas al-Qur’ani vol. 2
- the Book, the Qur’an, and the Mother of the Book
- cattle
- The Qur’anic stories are tidings for reflection
Basis
- Supporting text: “Shahrur defines ‘cattle’ as domesticated herbivorous animals, and makes the benefit derived from them broader than meat, including warmth, beauty, carrying loads, hides, and wool.”
Related verses
Place of the basis in the book
- Book: The Qur’anic Stories vol. 2.
- Location: in the first section of the book, within the explanation of the term cattle
- Type of basis: direct evidence.
- Verification marker: domesticated herbivorous animals
- Reading note: this passage is suitable because it defines cattle as domesticated herbivorous animals and mentions their multiple benefits.
Level of documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the wording above is an analytic summary, and is not treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is transmitted textually.
Its function in the book
Its function here is definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
This definition is the basis for the subsequent inference from the texts.