Intended meaning
The author holds that the Qur’an is concerned with objective laws and existential truths, that is, with what pertains to cosmic and historical existence as it is. In this way, he distinguishes it from the Mother of the Book, which is concerned with commands and prohibitions linked to human behavior.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Movement of the argument: defines the Qur’an as the domain of objective laws
- Key terms: the Qur’an, objective laws, existential truths, the Mother of the Book.
- Degree of centrality: central.
This atom defines the Qur’an as the domain of laws and existential truths, not the domain of behavioral commands. In doing so, it lays a methodological foundation for a separation between the Qur’an and the Mother of the Book within the atlas.
Reading aids
- Muhammad Shahrur The Book and the Qur’an
- The Book, the Qur’an, and the Mother of the Book
- the Qur’an
- the Mother of the Book
- the Qur’an and the Mother of the Book
Support
- Supporting text: «He affirms that the Qur’an is concerned with objective laws and existential truths, while the Mother of the Book is concerned with commands and prohibitions related to human conduct».
Place of support in the book
- Book: The Book and the Qur’an.
- Location: in the final section of the book, within the division of the domains of the Qur’an and the Mother of the Book.
- Type of support: close evidence.
- Verification marker: laws of existence
- Reading note: this location is suitable as evidence because it shows that the Qur’an has a domain concerned with objective laws and existential truths, which is close to the atom.
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 word for word.
Its function in the book
Its function here is definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
This is one of the keys to the Qur’anic structure in Shahrur.