Joseph 111

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This page gathers five places where verse 111 of Surat Yusuf is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, and reveals its place in his understanding of Qur’anic narratives. Its centrality lies in the fact that it gives the narratives a meaning that goes beyond storytelling, so that they become a site of admonition, confirmation, and elaboration, not merely a historical account detached from knowledge.

Text of the verse as cited

… AND THE ELABORATION OF ALL THINGS

Brief reading

Shahrur links the verse to the idea that Qur’anic narrative carries admonition and formulates meaningful knowledge. Through it, he explains the meaning of elaboration, and makes narrative a field of confirmation rather than fabrication. He also uses it to determine the place of narrative and discourse within the structure of the Qur’anic text in terms of significance and purport.

Axes

  • Narrative and historical
  • Methodological
  • Faith-based
  • Elaboration: 2
  • Qur’anic narrative: 2
  • Confirmation: 2
  • Admonition: 2
  • Narrative and discourse: 2

Its place in the network of concepts

The verse is connected to a network that includes elaboration, confirmation, admonition, and Qur’anic narrative. For that reason, it emerges in the atlas whenever the discussion turns to the cognitive reading of narrative, and to the difference between a report that is considered and a narrative that does not go beyond storytelling. It is a verse that links story and meaning.

The verse’s role in the argument

  • Support: 3
  • Foundational: 2

Summary of its presence in the atlas

  • A constant witness in reading Qur’anic narrative
  • Links admonition, confirmation, and elaboration
  • Clarifies that narrative is not mere storytelling

Places of use

  • Islam and Faith, p. 192: He uses it to explain the meaning of faṣāl as separation, distinction, and clarification, not merely weaning.
    • Concept: Elaboration
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: «{… IT WAS NOT A STORY INVENTED, BUT A CONFIRMATION OF THAT WHICH WAS BEFORE IT, AND THE ELABORATION OF ALL THINGS} (Joseph 111).»
    • The corresponding traditional reading: Our understanding has been dominated by the idea that faṣāl means weaning from nursing, which lasts two years
  • The State and Society: He cites it to affirm that Qur’anic narrative carries laws and lessons that can be applied, not merely a historical story for entertainment.
    • Concept: Qur’anic narrative
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: «By virtue of His – تعالى – saying: {IN THEIR STORIES THERE WAS A LESSON…} (Joseph 111)»
  • The Book and the Qur’an, p. 70: He cites it to establish that Qur’anic narrative is a confirmation of what came before it, and that it is not fabricated but presented as valid knowledge.
    • Concept: Confirmation
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: «{IN THEIR STORIES THERE WAS A LESSON … BUT A CONFIRMATION OF THAT WHICH WAS BEFORE IT} (Joseph 111)»
  • Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 13: He uses it to state that Qur’anic narrative is a field for admonition, not direct legislation.
    • Concept: Admonition
    • Function of the verse here: Foundational
    • Textual citation: «This is historical narrative from which we take lessons only; {IN THEIR STORIES THERE WAS A LESSON FOR THOSE OF UNDERSTANDING} (Joseph 111)»
  • A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation, p. 34: He uses it to classify Qur’anic narrative among reports that provide admonition and do not contain legislation.
    • Concept: Narrative and discourse
    • Function of the verse here: Support
    • Textual citation: «{ IN THEIR STORIES THERE WAS A LESSON … } (Joseph 111).»

This page is presented within the general methodology of atlas construction.

Graph View

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas