Al-Raʿd 43

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This axis brings together 3 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.

Text of the verse as cited

Say: God suffices as a witness between me and you, as does whoever has knowledge of the Book.

Reader’s answer

The question

How does Muhammad Shahrur employ the Qur’anic statement, “Say: God suffices as a witness between me and you, as does whoever has knowledge of the Book,” in his discussion of the possibility of interpreting the Qur’an?

Shahrur employs the verse to maintain that no human reading of the Revelation is final or absolute. In his words, whoever claims to have understood the whole Book of God “in an absolute sense” is claiming “partnership with God in knowledge.” From this premise, he rejects granting decisive scholarly authority to commentaries that claim to encompass the Revelation from beginning to end, and presents his own reading as a contemporary attempt open to being superseded, rather than the final word.

Shahrur links the verse to the rejection of the claim to an absolute understanding of the entirety of God’s Book, considering this claim to be “partnership with God in knowledge.” He states that his contemporary reading of the Revelation is not the final reading, because establishing a final reading reproduces what he attributes to the predecessors, the Salafis, and the forefathers. On the basis of this usage, Shahrur develops a broad critique of Qur’anic commentary books that interpret the Revelation from beginning to end, denying them scholarly credibility in his view and attributing this, as he says, to their reliance on Torah-based exegeses, occasions of revelation, and the sayings of the predecessors.

Citation and location

Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism — p. 249.

Limits of the reading

  • This is an account of Shahrur’s use of the verse, not a determination of its most authoritative exegetical meaning or a comparison among commentaries.
  • The citation does not clarify who is meant by the phrase “whoever has knowledge of the Book,” nor does it elaborate the semantic connection between the phrase and the principle of the limits of human knowledge; rather, Shahrur cites the verse in support of the methodological conclusion he advances.
  • His critique of commentary books is broad and sharp judgment on his part; the citation establishes that he made this judgment and gives the reasons he states, but it is not by itself sufficient to verify the accuracy or generalizability of this assessment.

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Brief reading

The verse is used to critique the claim of complete comprehension of the Book and to draw attention to the limits of human interpretation and knowledge.

Axes

  • Methodological
  • Faith-related
  • Linguistic and semantic
  • Limits of knowledge: 2
  • Limits of interpretation: 2
  • Knowledge of the Book: 2

Its place in the conceptual network

It sets an epistemic limit before any reading that claims possession of the entire meaning.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Critique of tradition: 2
  • Support: 1

Atlas pages that refer to this verse

These links gather the pages that rely on the verse or make it part of the argument within the atlas.

Instances of use

  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 249: He uses it to point out that no one possesses an absolute understanding of the Book; consequently, claiming complete comprehension of its meaning is a kind of partnership in knowledge.
    • Concept: limits of knowledge
    • Function of the verse here: critique of tradition
    • Textual citation: “Whoever claims to understand God’s Book as a whole … is claiming partnership with God in knowledge in light of His, exalted be He, statement: {… AND WHOEVER HAS KNOWLEDGE OF THE BOOK} (Al-Raʿd 43).”
  • Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 14: He employs it to deny the claim of absolute comprehension of God’s Book, and thus to critique traditional exegesis that claims to explain the whole Book.
    • Concept: limits of interpretation
    • Function of the verse here: critique of tradition
    • Textual citation: “{ AND THOSE WHO DISBELIEVE SAY: ‘YOU ARE NOT SENT.’ SAY: ‘GOD SUFFICES AS A WITNESS BETWEEN ME AND YOU, AS DOES WHOEVER HAS KNOWLEDGE OF THE BOOK’ } (Al-Raʿd 43).”
    • Corresponding traditional reading: interpreting it from beginning to end as though it were an absolute understanding of the Book
  • Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence, p. 90: He cites it to affirm that claiming absolute comprehension of the Book is a kind of partnership in God’s knowledge, which he rejects.
    • Concept: knowledge of the Book
    • Function of the verse here: support
    • Textual citation: “In light of His, exalted be He, statement: { AND THOSE WHO DISBELIEVE SAY: ‘YOU ARE NOT SENT.’ SAY: ‘GOD SUFFICES AS A WITNESS BETWEEN ME AND YOU, AS DOES WHOEVER HAS KNOWLEDGE OF THE BOOK’ } (Al-Raʿd 43).”

This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas