Wealth as an immorality symbol in the Qur'an : a reconsideration of the mal amwal verses

Turner, Colin

doi:10.3366/jqs.2006.8.2.58

Wealth as an immorality symbol in the Qur'an : a reconsideration of the mal amwal verses

Turner, Colin

Authors

Colin Turner

Abstract

Historically, academic research on the Qur'anic approach to wealth and ownership has been carried out largely from two disciplinary perspectives: jurisprudence and economics. Similarly, outwith the Islamic tradition, much has been written on the anthropology of wealth accumulation and the history of man's obsession with money and private ownership. On the symbology of wealth in the Qur'an, however, little if anything has been written. In one singularly enigmatic verse, Q. 104:3, the Qur'an interprets the lure of material possessions as nothing less than a symptom of man's desire to live forever. Using as our theoretical basis the principle of ‘immortality striving’ developed by cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker, and taking this verse as our conceptual starting point, this paper aims to explore the notion of wealth as an immortality symbol, with particular reference to the ‘rejection narratives’ in the Qur'an which detail the negative encounters between the prophets and their addressee communities.

Citation

Turner, C. (2006). Wealth as an immorality symbol in the Qur'an : a reconsideration of the mal amwal verses. Journal of Qur'anic Studies, 8, 58-83. https://doi.org/10.3366/jqs.2006.8.2.58

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	2006-10
Deposit Date	Mar 2, 2009
Publicly Available Date	Jan 26, 2010
Journal	Journal of Qur'anic Studies
Print ISSN	1465-3591
Electronic ISSN	1755-1730
Publisher	Edinburgh University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	8
Pages	58-83
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3366/jqs.2006.8.2.58