This axis brings together 1 locus 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
So woe to those who write the Book with their own hands and then say, “This is from God”
Reader’s Answer
Question
Where does Shahrur cite the verse, what distinction does he construct through it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
Shahrur cites Al-Baqarah 79 in The Book and the Qur’an (p. 101), in the course of discussing the susceptibility of prescriptive verses to falsification. He presents it as evidence for what he describes as the Jewish rabbis’ addition of rulings and interpretive judgments to what Moses brought, followed by their attribution of these additions to God. For him, the verse helps establish a contrast between this example and the form of the Qur’an and the detailing of its verses, which he considers to preclude the incorporation of later interpretation into rulings.
Shahrur cites Al-Baqarah 79 in asserting that the definitive verses are susceptible to falsification, and he regards the reality of the Jews as an example of this, through the rabbis’ addition of rulings and interpretive judgments to the rulings attributed to Moses. He employs the verse in an argument that contrasts the Jewish example with the form of the Qur’an and the detailing of the Book within it; he holds that the fixing of the number, order, and locations of the verses prevents the incorporation of interpretation into rulings as though it were part of them.
Citation and Location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 101.
Limits of the Reading
- The citation establishes this use on p. 101 only; it does not establish a general judgment regarding all the places where Shahrur mentions the verse.
- The citation does not explicitly state an independent terminological distinction under a specific name; the distinction presented here is the argumentative contrast between adding human rulings to rulings and the Qur’anic structure as Shahrur interprets it.
- The citation does not establish a claim concerning synonymy, or its absence, between the terms of the verse and other terms.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
He uses it to criticize the rabbis’ addition of their interpretive judgments to the rulings of the Book among the Jews.
Axes
- Linguistic and semantic
Related Concepts
- Falsification of rulings: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to criticism of attributing rulings to revelation without right.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Critique of heritage: 1
Contexts of Use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 101: He uses it to criticize the rabbis’ addition of their interpretive judgments to the rulings of the Book among the Jews.
- Concept: Falsification of rulings
- Function of the verse here: Critique of heritage
- Textual citation: “… for we find among them rulings brought by their rabbis … and concerning this, God the Exalted said: {So woe to those who write the Book with their own hands…}”
- Corresponding traditional reading: The rabbis’ interpretive judgments added to the Book
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.