This axis brings together 6 places where this verse is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the verse as cited
That is from the tidings of the unseen which We reveal to you, and you were not with them …
Brief reading
In Shahrur’s work, the verse is employed to distinguish the unseen from the tidings, and to emphasize that reporting here does not rest on direct presence.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Methodological
- Linguistic and semantic
Related concepts
- presence-based reference: 3
- tidings of the unseen: 2
- the unseen: 2
- unseen tidings: 2
- absence of witnesses: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It is linked to the concept of presence-based reference and to the limits of reporting and tidings.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 4
- Distinguish: 1
- Example: 1
Summary of its presence in the atlas
- the unseen and the tidings
- negation of direct presence
- a linguistic entry point to reporting
Uses
- Islam and the Human Being, p. 40: He uses it to affirm that the Prophet ﷺ received unseen tidings through revelation, not through self-knowledge.
- concept: Tidings of the unseen
- function of the verse here: Support
- textual evidence: ”- { ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ … } (Al Imran 44)”
- The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna, p. 49: He compares it with Al-Isra 39 to say that “that” there refers to commands and prohibitions, just as it here refers to tidings of the unseen.
- concept: The unseen
- function of the verse here: Support
- textual evidence: “It reminds us of His saying تعالى {ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ أَنبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ…} آل عمران ٤٤”
- The Qur’anic Narrative, vol. 1, p. 147: He uses the verse to argue that the tidings negate direct presence, distinguishing them from reporting, in which the narrator must be present and a witness to the event.
- concept: Presence-based reference
- function of the verse here: Support
- textual evidence: “{وَمَا كُنْتَ لَدَيْهِمْ …} … and this is a clear negation of presence-based reference in the tidings. As for reporting, its narrator must be present”
- The Qur’anic Narrative, vol. 2, p. 147: He adduces the verse to show that the tidings negate the narrator’s presence, since the verse denies the addressee’s presence at the time of the event.
- concept: Presence-based reference
- function of the verse here: Distinguish
- textual evidence: “We find that he does not stop at this… rather, he continues, saying {وَمَا كُنْتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يُلْقُونَ أَقْلَامَهُمْ…} and this is a clear negation of presence-based reference in the tidings.”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 83: He treats the story of Mary as an example of how Qur’anic narrative is tidings of the unseen, not witnessed reporting.
- concept: Unseen tidings
- function of the verse here: Example
- textual evidence: “And when we read His saying تعالى about what happened to Mary in her childhood {ذَلِكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ}”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 83: He uses the negation of presence to establish that Qur’anic tidings are not reports of what was witnessed but a disclosure of the unseen.
- concept: Absence of witnesses
- function of the verse here: Support
- textual evidence: “… (Al Imran 44) … and this is a clear negation of presence-based reference in the tidings.”
Related books
- Islam and the Human Being
- The Messengerly Sunna and the Prophetic Sunna
- The Qur’anic Narrative, vol. 1
- The Qur’anic Narrative, vol. 2
- The Book and the Qur’an
This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.