Intended Meaning
The author sees the Qur’an as the only revelation that must be relied upon, because it is the pure divine text. As for the prophetic hadith and the sira, a mixture of history and legend has entered into them, and therefore he does not place them on the same level as the Qur’an in the rank of revelation.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Argument movement: confines binding revelation to the Qur’an alone.
- Key terms: the Qur’an, revelation, prophetic hadith, sira.
- Degree of centrality: central.
It grants the Qur’an the status of the only authoritative source of revelation, and lowers the rank of hadith and sira to the sphere of mixed history. In this way, it defines the reference point of religious knowledge in a single higher text.
Links to Help Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism
- The Book, the Qur’an, and the Mother of the Book
- the Qur’an
Reliance
- Supporting text: «It states that the Qur’an is the only revelation, and that the prophetic hadith and the sira have been mixed with history and legend».
Place of Reliance in the Book
- Book: Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism.
- Location: in the final section of the book, within the critique of glorifying the hadith books and comparing them with the Wise Revelation.
- Type of reliance: close evidence.
- Verification marker: a single axis is the Wise Revelation
- Reading note: the passage places the Wise Revelation at the center and diminishes the rank of the hadith books, which is very close to the atom being cited.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Reading limits: the wording above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted textually.
Editorial Note
The atom reflects the restriction of authority to the Qur’an, as in the witness.