Al-A'raf 188

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This locus brings together 3 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

Text of the Verse as Cited

Say: “I possess no benefit or harm for myself except what God wills; and if I knew the unseen …”

Reader’s Answer

Question

How does Muhammad Shahrur read the words of God Most High: “And if I knew the unseen, I would have acquired much good, and no evil would have touched me”?

Shahrur employs the verse to affirm that the Prophet is a human being who does not know the unseen; he places it within his description of the Prophet’s humanity and the limits of what he possesses, alongside his being a warner and bearer of good news. Accordingly, the verse, for him, denies attributing knowledge of the unseen to the Prophet in a way that would enable him to acquire good and ward off evil on his own.

Shahrur explicitly states that the Prophet “does not know the unseen,” directly citing Al-A’raf 188 among a list of the Prophet’s human characteristics and limitations.

Evidence and Location

Towards New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence — p. 92.

Limits of the Reading

  • The direct evidence establishes that Shahrur includes the verse as proof that the Prophet does not know the unseen, but the passage does not offer a detailed linguistic interpretation of the verse’s wording.
  • The cited passage from “Islam and Humanity” addresses the division of the unseen and the rule of disclosing the unseen to messengers, but it does not cite Al-A’raf 188 in the supplied text; it is therefore not recorded as direct evidence of his use of this verse.
  • The evidence from “Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism” is not used because it is not connected to the subject of the verse or to Shahrur’s use of it.

Continue from Here

Brief Reading

The verse is used to deny that the Prophet has absolute knowledge of the unseen, and to preclude the construction of narratives or conceptions that contradict this denial.

Axes

  • Theological
  • Methodological
  • The unseen: 3
  • Denial of knowledge of the unseen: 2
  • The Prophet’s knowledge: 1
  • Inheritance: 1
  • Critique of tradition: 1

Its Place in the Conceptual Network

It is connected to the principle of denying knowledge of the unseen and to criticizing what is attributed to the Prophet beyond the text.

The Verse’s Role in the Argument

  • Support: 2
  • Critique of tradition: 1

Instances of Use

  • Islam and Humanity, p. 40: He cites it as evidence that, had the Prophet ﷺ possessed knowledge of the unseen, he would have acquired much good; therefore, he does not know it.
    • Concept: denial of knowledge of the unseen
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual evidence: “{ Say: ‘I possess no benefit or harm for myself …’ } (Al-A’raf 188)”
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 191: He cites it as evidence that the attributed hadith concerning the killing of the Kharijites cannot be based on knowledge of the unseen attributed to the Prophet.
    • Concept: the unseen
    • Function of the verse here: critique of tradition
    • Textual evidence: “{And if I knew the unseen, I would have acquired much good…} (Al-A’raf 188).”
  • Towards New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 92: He cites it as evidence that the Prophet himself denies possessing absolute knowledge of the unseen, so it cannot validly be attributed to anyone else through inheritance.
    • Concept: the unseen
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual evidence: “When he says to his people: { ‘And if I knew the unseen, I would have acquired much good, and no evil would have touched me’ } (Al-A’raf 188).”

This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas