This axis brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The verse text as cited
And that which We have revealed to you of the Book is the truth, confirming what came before it. Indeed, God is surely All-Aware and All-Seeing of His servants.
Reader’s answer
The question
Where does the verse occur, what distinction does Shahrur derive from it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
The verse occurs in Surat Fatir (31). Shahrur presents it as an answer to the question of the relationship between “the truth” and “the Book,” inferring that the truth is part of the Book rather than the whole Book, and linking the definition of truth to absolute, undiminished objective reality.
Shahrur considers Fatir 31 decisive in showing that the truth is part of the Book and not the entire Book. He links the occurrence of “the truth” in its definite form to complete, absolute, and undiminished objective reality.
The citation and its location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 45.
Limits of the reading
- The citation does not establish that the verse states that “the Qur’an” is the truth, nor does it explicitly address a relationship between the terms Qur’an and the Book here.
- The citation does not explain the phrase “confirming what came before it,” nor does it make it an independent basis of argument.
- Describing the truth as “part of the Book” is Shahrur’s inference in this passage, not an independent editorial statement about the meaning of the verse.
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Brief reading
He adduces it to show that the truth is part of the Book rather than the whole of it, and that the Qur’an is objective truth within the structure of the Book.
Axes
- Methodological
- Faith-based
Related concepts
- Truth: 3
Its place in the network of concepts
It is connected to defining the place of truth within his conceptual system of the Book and the Qur’an.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Distinction: 1
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- The Book and the Qur’an, pp. 45–46: He adduces it to show that the truth is part of the Book rather than the whole of it, and that it confirms what came before it within the structure of the Book.
- Concept: truth
- Function of the verse here: distinction
- Textual citation: “The decisive answer to this question came in His, exalted be He, saying: {And that which We have revealed to you of the Book is the truth, confirming what came before it…} (Fatir 31), to show that the truth is part of the Book and not the entire Book.”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 82: He cites it to explain that, for him, the Qur’an is objective truth and is not described as correct or incorrect in the manner of reports.
- Concept: truth
- Function of the verse here: support
- Textual citation: “Thus, he said of the Qur’an that it is truth, and did not say that it is correct: {And that which We have revealed to you of the Book is the truth…}”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas-building methodology.