This locus brings together 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
O you who were given the Book, believe in what We have sent down, confirming what is with you …
Reader’s answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ Qur’an 4:47 in his interpretation of the meaning of “confirming what is with you”?
Shahrur employs the verse to maintain that “confirmation” in the phrase “confirming what is with you,” in his reading, concerns the shared rulings of the “Mother of the Book/message,” rather than confirming the Torah and the Gospel in everything they contain, including narratives. He connects this to his idea that part of Muhammad’s message came to resemble Moses’ message.
Shahrur cites Qur’an 4:47 as supporting the idea that the Qur’an is “confirming what is before it,” and that what is before it means the Mother of the Book—that is, the message—not the Torah and the Gospel as complete wholes. In the context of citing the verse, Shahrur states that confirmation is “always of rulings,” and links this to the existence of a part of Muhammad’s message that resembles a part of Moses’ message. Shahrur distinguishes between rulings and narratives: narratives, in his view, are part of the Qur’an rather than the Mother of the Book/message. He also notes that the narratives of the Torah contain differences, citing Qur’an 27:76 in this context.
Citation and location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 397.
Limits of the reading
- This presents Shahrur’s reading as he explicitly states it in the attached passage; it is not a statement of a consensus interpretation of the verse.
- The citation establishes that Shahrur makes Qur’an 4:47 an example of the confirmation of rulings, but in the quotation he does not provide an independent, detailed proof for restricting “what is with you” to rulings.
- His discussion of differences in narratives or of Qur’an 27:76 should not be turned into a claim that Qur’an 4:47 itself concerns narratives; its direct connection in the citation is to the idea of confirmation and rulings.
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Brief reading
Shahrur uses it to affirm that the Qur’an confirms the rulings possessed by the People of the Book, while maintaining the distinction between the message and narratives.
Axes
- Faith-related
- Narrative and historical
Related concepts
- Confirmation: 2
Its place in the conceptual network
It connects the Qur’an to what preceded it without eliminating the differences.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 397: It affirms that the Qur’an confirms the rulings possessed by the People of the Book, while maintaining the distinction between the message and narratives.
- Concept: confirmation
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “God Most High said: {O you who were given the Book, believe in what We have sent down, confirming what is with you …} (Women 47). This confirms that confirmation is always of rulings.”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.