Hearing Before Sight - The Primacy of Hearing in Knowledge
Editorial verification status: This atom has been extracted from an explanatory audio-visual source, and it has now been linked to the closest books within Shahrur’s project at the book level. When citing academically with precision, consult the original book and the original episode together.
Formulation of the claim
Shahrur sees hearing as the first cognitive instrument, and the Qur’an always presents it before sight because it is the basis of communication and learning.
Explanation
Shahrur links the order of Qur’anic mention to the order of cognitive functions: hearing comes first because it enables direct access to information, while sight comes after it. He also emphasizes that hearing does not need light, so it functions day and night, unlike sight, which requires illumination. In this way, he makes hearing the gateway to initial perception before any subsequent mental processing.
Its place in the episode’s argument
This idea establishes a division of knowledge tools into tools of initial reception and tools of later processing. It paves the way for moving from the senses to the fu’ād and then to the heart.
Scope of the claim
He does not say that sight is unimportant, but rather that hearing is earlier in cognitive function.
Brief testimony
“Hearing is more important… and that is why a blind person can be a thinker… hearing before sight always”
Related links
- The Qur’an
- Shahrur - The Decisive Book
- Shahrur - A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation