Intended Meaning
What is meant by interpretation here is that the Qur’anic report matches objective truth and reason It is therefore a criterion by which the truth of the report is measured in terms of its agreement with both reality and reason
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Argument movement: makes interpretation the matching of the Qur’anic report to reason and reality.
- Central terms: interpretation, Qur’anic report, reason, reality.
- Degree of centrality: pivotal.
It links the truth of the Qur’anic report to its extension into reason and reality together, so interpretation becomes a criterion of verification rather than mere subjective understanding. This supports a reading that seeks objective correspondence.
Reading Aids
- Muhammad Shahrur The Book and the Qur’an
- The Book and the Qur’an and the Mother of the Book
- Interpretation
- Interpretation as a criterion for matching the report with reality and reason
Basis
- Supporting text: “Interpretation: the matching of the Qur’anic report with objective truth and reason.”
Place of the Basis in the Book
- Book: The Book and the Qur’an.
- Location: in the final section of the book, within the discussion of interpretation
- Type of basis: direct evidence.
- Verification marker: does not match objective truth
- Reading note: the text explicitly states that the absence of correspondence with objective truth makes the report false, which is direct support for the atom.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on an explicit witness close to the formulation 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 reproduced word for word.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial Note
The atom is definitional and reconstructs interpretation as correspondence.