Al-Tawbah 70

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This locus 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

Have they not received the account of those before them—the people of Noah, ʿAd, Thamud, the people of Abraham, the people of Midian, and the overturned cities? Their messengers came to them with clear proofs. God was not to wrong them; rather, they wronged themselves.

Reader’s answer

Question

How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Qur’an 9:70 in distinguishing between “nabaʾ” and “khabar”?

Shahrur employs the verse as a Qur’anic example of the “nabaʾ of those before them”: that is, the account of previous nations and of the sending of messengers to them with clear proofs. He places it within a group of verses through which he discusses the semantic difference between “nabaʾ” and “khabar,” not to establish that every report about previous nations belongs to the unseen or that the verse by itself founds an independent division of prophethood.

Shahrur cites Al-Tawbah 70 among the verses concerning “anbāʾ” when discussing reports, citing the phrase “the nabaʾ of those before them” and its mention of previous nations and of messengers coming with clear proofs. In the same passage, Shahrur holds that “khabar,” in his view, may be true or false, correct or mistaken, whereas “nabaʾ” may be reality or illusion; he therefore makes the verse part of his presentation of the distinction between the two terms.

Citation and location

The Book and the Qur’an — p. 82.

Limits of the reading

  • The sole citation establishes that Shahrur includes the verse in a discussion of the difference between khabar and nabaʾ; it does not establish a broader formulation that makes it the basis for an independent division between “prophethood” and “ordinary report.”
  • Describing the accounts in Al-Tawbah 70 as “unseen” is not the wording of the verse; the phrase “accounts of the unseen” occurs in Hud 49 within the same citation.
  • No necessary semantic relationship between “nabaʾ” and “clear proofs” should be inferred merely from their appearing together in this verse; here, the clear proofs concern the coming of the messengers.

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Brief reading

The verse is used to affirm that reports of previous nations belong to the category of unseen nabaʾ associated with clear proofs.

Axes

  • Narrative and historical
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Clear proofs: 2
  • Unseen narratives: 2

Its place in the conceptual network

It links historical report and unseen signification in the Qur’an.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Support: 2

Instances of use

  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 82: He uses it alongside reports of previous nations to highlight that anbāʾ are associated with clear proofs and belong to the domain of prophethood rather than ordinary report.
    • Concept: Clear proofs
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “{… Their messengers came to them with clear proofs …} (Al-Tawbah 70)”
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 82: He makes it an example of how what the Qur’an recounts about previous nations is unseen nabaʾ rather than direct report.
    • Concept: Unseen narratives
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: “… {Have they not received the nabaʾ of those before them …} (Al-Tawbah 70).”

This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas