The Abstract Revelation Comes Without Sensory Mediation

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Intended Meaning

Abstract revelation is non-sensory revelation; it comes directly from outside the Prophet’s consciousness without sensory mediation. Therefore, it is not understood as an illness or a loss of consciousness, but as a direct reception of information.

The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas

  • Type of argument: definitional
  • Movement of the argument: defining abstract revelation as non-sensory and direct.
  • Key terms: abstract revelation, non-sensory, direct, the Prophet’s consciousness.
  • Degree of centrality: central.

It draws a clear boundary between revelation and sensory experiences or psychological disturbances, thereby establishing for it a distinct mode of non-mediating reception.

Basis

  • Supporting text: «Abstract revelation: non-sensory revelation, coming directly from outside the Prophet’s consciousness».

Place of the Basis in the Book

  • Book: The Book and the Qur’an.
  • Location: in the middle section of the book within the discussion of abrogation and legislative development.
  • Type of basis: near evidence.
  • Marker that helps verification: from the concrete to the abstract
  • Reading note: this passage is suitable as support because it links the development of legislation to the transition from the concrete to the abstract, which is close to the atom.

Degree of Documentation

  • Level: directly documented
  • Meaning of the level: the atom relies 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 quoted exactly.

Its Function in the Book

Its function here is definitional; it sets out a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.

Editorial Note

The atom establishes the difference between two kinds of reception, not between two degrees of the same phenomenon.

Graph View

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Muhammad Shahrur Atlas