What is meant
The text states that there are three categories in the mushaf, and that the Mother of the Book is the decisive verses It represents the basis on which the Qur’anic structure rests, in contrast to the ambiguous verses and the verses of elaboration
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Argument movement: equating the Mother of the Book with the decisive verses
- Central terms: Mother of the Book, decisive verses, ambiguous verses, verses of elaboration.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
This atom establishes the status of the Mother of the Book as the decisive verses on which the Qur’anic structure rests. It thus gives the reader a key to understanding the internal arrangement of the text between foundation and elaboration.
Reading aids
- Muhammad Shahrur: The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration
- The Book, the Qur’an, and the Mother of the Book
- Mother of the Book
- Reclassifying the Book and the Mother of the Book organizes the structure and functions of the Qur’anic text
Grounding
- Supporting text: “He states that there are three categories in the mushaf: decisive verses representing the ‘Mother of the Book,’ ambiguous verses representing the ‘Book of Prophethood,’ and verses of elaboration that constitute a methodological ordering of knowledge.”
Grounding location in the book
- Book: The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration.
- Location: in the first section of the book
- Type of grounding: close witness.
- Verification cue: It is divided into decisive verses and ambiguous verses
- Reading note: The location is suitable because it states the division of verses into decisive verses, ambiguous verses, and verses of elaboration, which is the basis of the atom.
Degree of documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on a clear 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 definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
The decisive verses are the point of reference here.