Al-‘Alaq 3–5

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This axis gathers 1 instance 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

Recite, and your Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by the pen, taught the human being what he did not know

Reader’s answer

Question

Where does Shahrur cite verses 3–5 of al-‘Alaq, what does “distinction” mean for him, and what function do they serve in his argument?

Shahrur cites the verses in the context of an epistemological question concerning the relation between human consciousness and objective existence. He takes “the pen” to signify “pruning,” and explains this through distinction; thus, for him, the verses serve a foundational function in showing that demonstrable, evidential scientific knowledge proceeds through distinction, and that it advances as human beings increasingly distinguish things, without affirming the possibility of complete correspondence with objective existence.

Shahrur cites al-‘Alaq 3–5 in a philosophical-epistemological discussion of whether correspondence is possible between objective existence and human consciousness’s conception of it. Shahrur interprets “the pen” as “pruning,” and renders its meaning in scientific terminology as distinction. In his argument, the verses function to link scientific knowledge that is susceptible to demonstration and proof with the pen/distinction, while maintaining that the progress of the sciences and forms of knowledge increases the human being’s distinction between things. Shahrur holds that the human being may attain a conception close to the reality of objective existence, but he does not establish the possibility of a conception fully corresponding to it.

Citation and location

The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought — p. 37.

Limits of the reading

  • The citation establishes this interpretation as Shahrur’s position in this passage; it does not establish that it is the only linguistic or exegetical meaning of the verses.
  • The citation does not provide a reliable definition of “inscription,” because the quoted passage ends before the definition is completed.
  • The citation does not establish that knowledge reaches truth in a corresponding or final manner; rather, it limits it to a conception close to it.
  • The expression “pen/distinction” should not be turned into a claim of general synonymy outside the terminological context explicitly stated by the citation.

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Brief reading

The verse presents human knowledge as a gradual process that advances through the pen and learning toward truth.

Axes

  • Methodological
  • Faith-based
  • Knowledge: 2
  • The pen: 1
  • Knowledge: 1
  • Truth: 1

Its place in the network of concepts

It represents a foundation for constructing a conception of knowledge as ascent.

Role of the verse in the argument

  • Foundational: 1

Instances of use

  • The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought, pp. 37–38: He makes it the basis for the idea that human knowledge advances through the pen/distinction and that science is a means of approaching truth.
    • Concept: knowledge
    • Function of the verse here: foundational
    • Textual citation: “- {Recite, and your Lord is the Most Generous … taught by the pen …} (al-‘Alaq 3–5)”

This page is presented within the general methodology for constructing the atlas.

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas