This axis brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The Text of the Verse as Cited
And We wrote for him upon the tablets an exhortation concerning all things and a detailed explanation of all things. So take them firmly and command your people to take the best of them.
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Shahrur employ Al-A’raf 145 in his interpretation of the phrase “And We wrote for him upon the tablets”?
Shahrur employs the verse to indicate that what was written for Moses on the tablets was not a single subject; he understands the “exhortation” therein as encompassing multiple subjects. This evidence alone does not offer an independent account of the form of the tablets or of the concept of writing outside this context.
Shahrur cites Al-A’raf 145 to maintain that the “exhortation” written on the tablets includes multiple subjects.
Evidence and Location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 19.
Limits of the Reading
- The evidence presents the verse within a list of uses of “wrote,” and does not explain the material details of the tablets or the method of writing.
- This passage alone is insufficient to claim that Shahrur advances a general theory that every written text brings together multiple subjects.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
For Shahrur, the verse indicates that what was given to Moses was formulated on written tablets, and that writing may bring together multiple subjects in a single text.
Axes
- Methodological
- Linguistic and semantic
Related Concepts
- Tablets: 2
- Exhortation: 2
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It supports a detailed reading of the concept of the Book and the tablets as a textual construction rather than oral instruction.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 2
Instances of Use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 324: He adduces it to argue that what was given to Moses was formulated on written tablets resembling the Furqan/Ten Commandments, rather than being merely oral instruction.
- Concept: Tablets
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “This vocal revelation came to Moses as a ‘voice’ and was copied as the Ten Commandments, ‘the Furqan,’ as indicated by His, exalted be He, saying: {And We wrote for him upon the tablets…} (Al-A’raf 145).”
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 19: He adduces it to argue that “We wrote” may mean bringing together multiple subjects in a single text, rather than merely imposing an obligation.
- Concept: Exhortation
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “{And We wrote for him upon the tablets an exhortation concerning all things and a detailed explanation of all things …} (Al-A’raf 145).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.