This axis brings together 1 occurrence of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The Text of the Verse as Cited
The revelation of the Book is from God, the Mighty, the Wise
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ God’s saying, “The revelation of the Book is from God, the Mighty, the Wise,” in his conception of the relationship between revelation and the Book?
Shahrur employs the verse as an example that the expression “revelation of the Book” encompasses, in his classification, the Mother of the Book, the detailing of the Book, and the seven oft-repeated verses together, and that their revelation extended over twenty-three years. In the same passage, he maintains that they had no “making” because, in his terminology, they had no prior existence.
Shahrur counts al-Jathiyah 2 among the verses through which he expresses “the revelation of the Book,” subsuming under this heading the Mother of the Book, the detailing of the Book, and the seven oft-repeated verses together. Shahrur links “the revelation of the entire Book” to a period of twenty-three years, and says that the Mother of the Book, the detailing of the Book, and the seven oft-repeated verses were accompanied by both sending down and revelation, without “making.”
Citation and Location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 145.
Limits of the Reading
- The reasoning here conveys Shahrur’s terminological definition of revelation and the Book; it is not a comprehensive linguistic or traditional exegesis of the verse.
- Al-Jathiyah 2 appears in the cited passage within a list of parallel verses, not in an independent analysis of the context of Surat al-Jathiyah.
- His statement “because they had no prior existence” should not be transformed, on the basis of this testimony alone, into a detailed claim about the Preserved Tablet.
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Brief Reading
It supports understanding the revelation of the Book as a comprehensive heading that does not indicate prior preservation in the conventional sense.
Axes
- Methodological
- Faith-based
Related Concepts
- Revelation of the Book: 2
- the Book: 1
- the Preserved Tablet: 1
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to determining how the designation of the Book and its meaning are to be read.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Support: 1
Occurrences of Use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 145: He cites it together with al-Ahqaf to reinforce his claim that the revelation of the Book is a comprehensive heading and not evidence for a pre-existing Preserved Tablet.
- Concept: revelation of the Book
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “{The revelation of the Book is from God, the Mighty, the Wise} (al-Jathiyah 2, al-Ahqaf 2).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general methodology for building the atlas.