Intended meaning
The author sees the Qur’anic narratives as different from the verses of the message and legislation, because they present the story as history, not as a source of rulings Therefore, no legal ruling is derived from them, and they are not treated as legislative material
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: legislative
- Argument movement: denies the possibility of extracting a legal ruling from the Qur’anic narratives.
- Key terms: Qur’anic narrative, legal ruling, legislation.
- Degree of centrality: central.
This atom closes the door to juristic derivation from the narrative text, and returns it to its historical and exhortative domain, which reduces the tendency to use the story as a source of legal obligation.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur, The Qur’anic Narrative, vol. 2
- Legislation, Limits, and Prohibition
- The Qur’anic narrative
- The Qur’anic narrative is not material for legislation
Basis
- Supporting text: “It distinguishes between the Qur’anic narratives as historical, and the verses of the message and legislation, and holds that no legal ruling is taken from the narratives.”
Location of the basis in the book
- Book: The Qur’anic Narrative, vol. 2.
- Location: within the middle section of the book, in the discussion of God’s knowledge and the Clear Book
- Type of basis: close evidence.
- Marker that helps verification: no legislation is derived from it
- Reading note: this passage is suitable as evidence because it places the Qur’anic narratives in the context of exposition and knowledge, not in the context of deriving rulings.
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 quoted textually.
Its function in the book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares the way for it.
Related to
Editorial note
This atom complements the atom that legislation differs from narrative.