Intended Meaning
The Qur’anic narratives, including the Muhammadan narratives, are not merely historical storytelling; rather, they carry laws and Sunna patterns. Accordingly, Shahrur reads them as revealing recurring patterns in human history. They are used to understand the Sunna patterns governing the rise and destruction of states.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: historical
- Movement of the argument: it makes the narratives bear the Sunna patterns rather than being mere stories
- Key terms: the Qur’anic narratives, historical Sunna patterns, the rise of states, their destruction.
- Degree of centrality: central.
This atom links the Qur’anic narratives to the movement of social history and the rise and fall of states. It gives the atlas an entry point that connects the Qur’anic text to historical law rather than to isolated events.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: The State and Society
- History, Development, and Sunna Patterns
- The Qur’anic Narratives
Basis
- Supporting text: “The Qur’anic narratives, including the Muhammadan narratives, are not merely historical storytelling; rather, they carry laws and Sunna patterns.”
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests 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 quoted verbatim.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is declarative; it establishes a result on which what follows in the argument depends.
Editorial Note
History here is the subject of reading, not the subject of narration.