What Shahrur Says
The witness states that “the Qur’an distinguishes between hearing, sight, and the heart as primary sources of knowledge.” The statement attributed to him brings together the three terms in their relation to knowledge, without equating them or explaining here the function of each one.
Atlas Explanation
This atom presents a specific claim: that hearing, sight, and the heart are differentiated in the context of knowledge. The phrase “primary sources” describes their place in the claim as stated, not a complete technical definition of them.
Limited Inference
This atom can be connected to the discussion Human knowledge is relative and progresses from sense perception to mathematics, but that connection must not be taken, on the basis of this witness alone, as proof of a specific sequence beginning with sense perception and ending in abstraction.
Open Question and Limits of the Evidence
What distinction does Shahrur draw between hearing, sight, and the heart? Does he mean by “primary” temporal precedence, epistemic priority, or something else? The available witness does not settle these questions. Moreover, its attached raw context does not contain the quoted statement; reliance therefore remains on the documented quotation itself.
Reading Links
The Book and the Qur’an · Human knowledge is relative and progresses from sense perception to mathematics