Security, Water and Gardens
Constructing Socio-Legal and Theoretical Contexts for the Qur'anic Covenant
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/cis.27097Keywords:
The Quran, water, gardens , Covenant, faith, farm workers, ancient Arab historyAbstract
The article analyses the Qur'anic concept of “faith” in relation to verses about “water” and “gardens.” Three kinds of contexts are constructed for the analysis. (1) The internal Qur'anic Covenantal contract between God and humans, where God promises to sustain humans through watered land and its growth while humans promise to serve only God. (2) A socio-legal context for Covenant, which here refers to agriculture and ownership and farming of land, focusing particularly on the rights of farm workers. (3) A theoretical context for Covenant, focusing on natural law and social contract. Two arguments are developed. (1) “Faith” in the Qur'an connotes the “security” of water and food that God promises humans and obligates them to implement among themselves. (2) Research into Biblical Covenant, ancient Arab history and agriculture, and early Islamic law on sharecropping contracts, suggests that the Qur'an could reflect both ancient farming conditions and legal change during the Prophet’s time, which strengthened farm workers’ rights. However, more research into both ancient and Qur'an contemporaneous Arab history is needed to substantiate the thesis.
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