This axis gathers 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.
Text of the Verse as Cited
The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was sent down as guidance for humanity, and clear proofs of guidance and the Criterion…
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ God’s saying, “The month of Ramadan, in which the Qur’an was sent down as guidance for humanity,” in his discussion of the universality of guidance and the meaning of “whoever among you witnesses the month”?
In the available explicit evidence, Shahrur employs the verse to read “whoever among you witnesses the month, let him fast it” as referring to one who is present during the month and has established knowledge of its beginning. He states that this may occur through sighting the crescent with one’s eyes, through hearing, or through astronomical calculation. As for inferring from the phrase “guidance for humanity” the universality of the Qur’an’s guidance, this is present in the page’s presentation and in the citation of the verse within a passage comparing Qur’anic formulations; however, the accompanying excerpt from the Book and the Qur’an does not itself sufficiently explain the claim of distinguishing between the Qur’an and the Book.
Shahrur interprets “whoever among you witnesses the month” as encompassing whoever is present during the month and has verified its beginning. He mentions visual sighting, hearing, and astronomical calculation as means of this verification, while excepting the sick and the traveler, as he states in his explanation.
Evidence and Location
Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 56.
Limits of the Reading
- The accompanying evidence from the Book and the Qur’an, by itself, does not establish the details of the claim that Shahrur distinguishes between the Qur’an and the Book on account of the difference between “guidance for humanity” and “guidance for the God-conscious”; it cites the two verses without an argumentative explanation in the quoted text.
- The interpretation of “witnessing the month” should not be turned into a general rule for every occurrence of the root (sh-h-d); the evidence here concerns the fasting verse and its context.
- Shahrur’s statement that verification may occur “astronomically” is part of the reading attributed to him in the evidence, not a ruling presented here as an independent conclusion necessarily entailed by the wording of the verse alone.
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Brief Reading
Shahrur cites it as evidence that the Qur’an is guidance for all humanity, and reads witnessing in it as meaning being present for the month and sighting it.
Axes
- Faith-related
- Linguistic and semantic
Related Concepts
- the Qur’an: 2
- Present witnessing: 2
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It enters the network of distinctions between the Qur’an’s general signification and the meaning of present witnessing.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 1
- Foundation: 1
Atlas Pages That Refer to This Verse
These links gather pages that draw on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.
Related Structural Theses
Instances of Use
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 45: He cites it as evidence that the Qur’an is guidance for humanity generally, not only for the God-conscious, thereby distinguishing it from the Book.
- Concept: the Qur’an
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “And His saying, exalted is He: {The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was sent down as guidance for humanity, and clear proofs of guidance and the Criterion…} (al-Baqarah 185).”
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 56: He interprets witnessing here as being present for the month and sighting it, not martyrdom in the sense of being killed or dying.
- Concept: Present witnessing
- Function of the verse here: Foundation
- Textual evidence: “{The month of Ramadan … whoever among you witnesses the month, let him fast it …} (al-Baqarah 185)”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.