What is meant
Shahrur holds that divine revelation occurs only to a being that possesses an abstract language, that is, the ability to deal with meaning apart from direct sensory experience Therefore, whoever does not possess this linguistic and cognitive level is not qualified to receive revelation
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: methodological
- Movement of the argument: revelation requires an abstract language in the recipient.
- Central terms: revelation, abstract language, meaning, sense.
- Degree of centrality: pivotal.
It raises the language condition to a cognitive level, making the reception of revelation tied to the capacity for abstraction, not merely to hearing or direct sensation.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur, The Book and the Qur’an
- The Book and the Qur’an and the Mother of the Book
- Revelation and dreaming differ because the former is non-sensory and the latter consists of disordered images
Basis
- Supporting text: “Divine revelation can occur only to a being that possesses an abstract language.”
Location of the basis in the book
- Book: The Book and the Qur’an.
- Location: in the middle section of the book, in the discussion of the post-messenger age and the end of direct intervention.
- Type of basis: close evidence.
- Marker that helps verification: post-messenger age
- Reading note: The location is appropriate because it links cognitive and ethical possibility to the age of science, and it is a close support for the idea that revelation occurs only to a being with an abstract language.
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 formulation above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is transmitted textually.
Its function in the book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares for it.
Related to
Editorial note
This atom establishes a distinction between sensory and linguistic perception.