This axis gathers 1 instance of the use of these verses in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking them to the concepts and arguments that appear around them.
Text of the verses as cited
He said, “It was she who sought to seduce me.” And a witness from her family testified: “If his shirt is torn from the front, then she has spoken the truth and he is among the liars. But if his shirt is torn from the back, then she has lied and he is among the truthful.” When he saw that his shirt was torn from the back, he said, “Indeed, this is of your women’s guile; indeed, your guile is great.”
Reader’s answer
Question
Where do these verses occur, what distinction does Shahrur draw from the “testimony of the witness,” and what function do the verses serve in his argument?
The verses occur in Surat Joseph (26–28). Shahrur treats the witness’s testimony as testimony based on acquired knowledge and expertise, as opposed to direct testimony based on hearing and sight. He invokes the verses as support for this distinction in his argument.
Shahrur distinguishes between the testimony of a witness as acquired knowledge and expertise, and direct testimony based on hearing and sight. He uses Joseph 26–28 to support his view of how to understand the testimony of a witness.
Source and location
Islam and Humanity — location unspecified.
Limits of the reading
- The excerpt does not explicitly state, in these terms, that the designation of the witness here is based on “indicators and traces”; what it establishes is acquired knowledge and expertise as opposed to presence based on hearing and sight.
- The location of the text within the book Islam and Humanity is not specified in the accompanying excerpt.
- The excerpt does not establish further details about the witness’s identity or the manner of his inference in the story.
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Brief reading
Shahrur interprets them as indicating that the witness relies on indicators, traces, and expertise, rather than on having witnessed the incident itself.
Axes
- Methodological
- Linguistic and semantic
Related concepts
- Expert witness: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It supports an epistemic conception of testimony as evidence based on inference.
Role of the verses in the argument
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- Islam and Humanity: He interprets the witness here as one who inferred from indicators, traces, and expertise, rather than someone who was present at the incident itself.
- Concept: Expert witness
- Function of the verses here: Support
- Textual excerpt: “We say this, with the clear words of God before us, supporting what we have maintained: { He said, ‘It was she who sought to seduce me’ … ‘And a witness from her family testified’ … } (Joseph 26, 27, 28).”
Related books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.