This is a lexicographic entry that gathers the technical meaning of this term in Shahrur across his various books, and links together its multiple uses.
This entry belongs to Shahrur’s glossary. For reading by theme, one may refer to Shahrur’s major themes and shared concepts.
The meaning in Shahrur
Narratives and reports that infiltrated Islamic exegesis and history, affecting the understanding of Qur’anic storytelling and its narrative structure, especially in the portrayal of woman and in entrenching a deviant traditional reading. For the author, these are not neutral additions, but a factor in shaping Salafi interpretation.
Distinctions
- It differs from the Qur’anic narrative itself; that is the Qur’anic text that recounts the event and the message, whereas the Isra’iliyyat are material foreign to its understanding
- It differs from the humanistic Qur’anic reading; the latter seeks to liberate meaning from authoritarianism, while the Isra’iliyyat produce a traditional distortion of reading.
Places in his books
- Qur’anic Storytelling vol. 1: the author describes them as having entered Islamic exegesis and history and distorted the understanding of Qur’anic storytelling, especially in the image of woman and in the structure of traditional narrative. For him, they are not innocent additions but an influential element in producing Salafi reading
What is adjacent to it and different from it
- Qur’anic storytelling
- The Isra’iliyyat distort Qur’anic storytelling
- The Isra’iliyyat entered exegesis
- The Isra’iliyyat and abrogating and abrogated verses corrupt the reading of the text
- The humanistic Qur’anic reading liberates religion from authoritarianism and distorted heritage
- Qur’anic storytelling reveals history and the message as a human, liberatory trajectory