Intended meaning
Shahrur argues that the traditional classification of Qur’anic sciences is not well-ordered and involves confusion and overlap among the various fields. As a result, the science of tafsir came to dominate the other sciences, not as a sound expansion of knowledge but as the outcome of a flaw in the ordering of these sciences and the delimitation of their boundaries.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: critical
- Movement of the argument: it describes the science of tafsir as having overreached the other Qur’anic sciences because of traditional conflation.
- Key terms: science of tafsir, overreach, conflation, Qur’anic sciences.
- Degree of centrality: subsidiary.
It presents a critical image of the balance among the sciences within the tradition, where tafsir became the dominant center. The aim here is to clarify the effect of the defect in the distribution of cognitive functions.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration
- Critique of Heritage, Jurisprudence, and Tafsir
- the science of tafsir
- Qur’anic narratives fall within the cognitive dimension, not legislation
Basis
- Supporting text: “The traditional classification of Qur’anic sciences is not well-ordered, and it involves confusion and overlap, until the science of tafsir came to dominate the other sciences.”
Place of the basis in the book
- Book: The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration.
- Location: in the early part of the book
- Type of basis: close evidence.
- Verification marker: the science of tafsir
- Reading note: this location is suitable as support because it speaks about the Qur’anic sciences and the overreach of the science of tafsir within them, and it is close to the atom’s methodological idea.
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 cited verbatim.
Its function in the book
Its function here is declarative; it establishes a conclusion on which what follows in the argument depends.
Related to
Editorial note
The atom is an extension of the critique of classification, not a completely independent issue.