This entry 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
A Book whose verses have been perfected, then elaborated
Reader’s answer
Question
Where does the verse stand in Shahrur’s reading, what distinction does he base on it, and what function does it serve in his argument?
Shahrur uses Hud 1 to define the “muhkam Book” as the Mother of the Book and the collection of muhkam verses, and he makes the elaboration of its verses related to the content of the message and its graduated rulings. The evidence does not establish that the verse divides the Book into “muhkam” and “elaboration” as two independent sections.
Shahrur defines the Mother of the Book as the collection of muhkam verses, equating it with the “muhkam Book” for which he cites Hud 1 as evidence. He attributes to the muhkam Book/Mother of the Book the capacity for development, gradualness, and abrogation, and links it to the content of Muhammad’s message: limits, acts of worship, ethics, instructions, and provisional rulings.
Evidence and location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 373.
Limits of the reading
- The evidence does not state that “elaboration” is an independent section set against the “muhkam.”
- The evidence does not provide a general reading method, although it mentions the term “communicative reason” at the end of the passage.
- This passage alone does not establish either synonymy or non-synonymy between “the Book” and “the Qur’an.”
- The connection to abrogation and gradualness is attributed in this evidence to the muhkam Book/Mother of the Book, not to the word “elaborated” alone.
Continue from here
Brief reading
The verse is used to divide the Book into muhkam and elaboration, linking this to the concept of the Mother of the Book and to the reading method.
Axes
- Methodological
- Linguistic and semantic
- Legislative
Related concepts
- Perfection and elaboration: 3
- Mother of the Book: 2
Its place in the network of concepts
It establishes a reading structure based on perfection followed by elaboration.
Role of the verse in the argument
- Foundational: 2
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 373: He uses it to support the idea that the Mother of the Book is a muhkam Book with graduated legislative elaborations.
- Concept: Perfection and elaboration
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “It is the muhkam Book of which He said: {Alif-Lam-Ra. A Book whose verses have been perfected, then elaborated…} (Hud 1).”
- Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 36: He cites it to divide the message into closed muhkamāt and interpretive elaborations, linking understanding to ijtihad.
- Concept: Perfection and elaboration
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual evidence: “{Alif-Lam-Ra. A Book whose verses have been perfected, then elaborated, from One Wise and All-Aware} (Hud 1).”
- Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 41: He makes the verse the basis for dividing the Book into muhkam and elaboration, and for constructing the concept of the message upon this division.
- Concept: Mother of the Book
- Function of the verse here: Foundational
- Textual evidence: “They are the verses that include the verses of the Mother of the Book (the muhkam Book) and the verses that elaborate them, in accordance with His saying, exalted be He: {Alif-Lam-Ra. A Book whose verses have been perfected, then elaborated …} (Hud 1).”
Related books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.