This axis brings together 2 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
The sending down of the Book is from God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Shahrur employ the Qur’anic statement, “The sending down of the Book is from God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing,” in his understanding of the term “the Book”?
Shahrur employs the verse as evidence that, in his view, “the sending down of the Book” is not confined to the Qur’an alone; rather, it includes other divisions that he subsumes under “the Book”: the Mother of the Book, the detailing of the Book, and the Seven Oft-Repeated.
Shahrur considers Ghafir 2 to be among the verses on “the sending down of the Book,” and interprets this sending down as encompassing the Mother of the Book, the detailing of the Book, and the Seven Oft-Repeated together, rather than the Qur’an alone.
Citation and Location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 145.
Limits of the Reading
- This presents Shahrur’s terminological reading of the verse; it does not state its agreed-upon exegetical meaning.
- The citation establishes Shahrur’s inclusion of these divisions within “the sending down of the Book,” but does not by itself demonstrate the details of his definition of each division.
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Brief Reading
He cites it to affirm that the phrase “the sending down of the Book” encompasses multiple subjects of the Book and is not confined to the Qur’an alone.
Axes
- Methodological
- Linguistic and semantic
Related Concepts
- The sending down of the Book: 3
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It serves his construction of a distinction between the Book and the Remembrance within the formulation of sending down.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 2
Instances of Use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 145: He uses it alongside analogous verses to affirm that the formula “the sending down of the Book” encompasses multiple subjects of the Book, not the Qur’an alone.
- Concept: The sending down of the Book
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “{The sending down of the Book is from God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing} (Ghafir 2)”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 156: He cites it to establish that the Book has a sent-down aspect distinct from the Remembrance as a formulation.
- Concept: The sending down of the Book
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “He summarized the sending down therein in His statement: ﴿The sending down of the Book is from God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing﴾”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.