The First House Built for Mankind (Qur'an 3:96): Bayt Ḥaram, Ḥabs and Regulation of 'Umran
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23917/qist.v5i3.17891Keywords:
Thematic Tafsīr, Bayt al-Harām, 'Umrān, Habs, Entropy, NegentropyAbstract
Purpose - This study reinterprets Qur'an 3:96 through an integrative framework combining thematic Qur'anic exegesis (tafsīr mawḍū'ī), complex systems theory, and the concept of 'umrān. It examines how the Bayt al-Ḥarām, ḥabs, and 'umrān can be conceptually related to explain the organization, resilience, and disintegration of human collectives.
Design/methodology/approach - The study employs a qualitative, conceptual approach based on thematic Qur'anic exegesis and systemic interpretation. Relevant Qur'anic passages are examined to reconstruct the conceptual and semantic relationships among Bayt al-Ḥarām, ḥabs, and 'umrān. Complex systems theory is subsequently employed as a second-order analytical framework, with entropy and negentropy used heuristically to interpret processes of organization, disorganization, adaptation, and resilience.
Findings - The study develops a tripartite systemic model in which the Bayt al-Ḥarām functions as an anchor of shared meaning, ḥabs as a mechanism for stabilizing and sustaining material resources, and 'umrān as the dynamic field of human cooperation. The findings suggest that social viability depends on the alignment of meaning, institutional and material resources, and cooperative relations. Conversely, progressive misalignment generates social entropy, manifested in fragmentation of shared meanings, institutional dysfunction, weakening solidarity, and eventual systemic disintegration.
Research implications/limitations - The proposed framework is interpretive and heuristic rather than deterministic. The concepts of entropy, negentropy, cohesion, and kharāb require further operationalization and empirical validation. Moreover, the relationship among Bayt al-Ḥarām, ḥabs, and 'umrān may vary across historical and institutional contexts.
Originality/value - This study contributes to contemporary Qur'anic studies by connecting tafsīr mawḍū'ī with complex systems theory without reducing Qur'anic interpretation to scientific explanation. It proposes an integrated conceptual model for understanding 'umrān as a dynamic system whose resilience depends on the alignment of symbolic meaning, resource continuity, and human cooperation.
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