Intended Meaning
The intended meaning is that the Prophet’s enduring miracle is not a material, tangible miracle, but the Qur’an itself. Thus, the Qur’anic text is the center of the revelatory miracle, not bodily marvels or material spectacles.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Movement of the argument: it places the enduring miracle in the Qur’anic text rather than in the material extraordinary.
- Central terms: the Qur’an, miracle, enduringness, the message.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
This atom establishes an understanding of miracle as residing in the Qur’an itself, not in extraordinary phenomena, and thus shifts the center of certainty from the sensory scene to the ongoing textual message.
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Basis
- Supporting text: “The Prophet did not know the unseen from himself, and did not come with material, specified miracles in the revelation, and the Qur’an is the enduring miracle.”
Place of the Basis in the Book
- Book: Islam and Faith.
- Location: in the middle section of the book
- Type of basis: close witness.
- Marker that helps verification: the credibility of Muhammad’s prophethood
- Reading note: this passage is suitable as a basis because it links the credibility of revelation to the Qur’an itself as an enduring proof.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the wording above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted textually.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares for it.
Editorial Note
The atom defines miracle as a permanent messengerly function, not a transient event.