What is meant
Shahrur holds that the Wise Revelation is fixed in itself because it is the word of God, but it becomes relative in the reader’s understanding because the tools of knowledge change over time. Therefore, understanding is not the same across the ages; rather, each generation needs to reread the text according to its own knowledge and circumstances. He makes this distinction between the stability of the text and the movement of understanding the basis of his approach to dealing with texts.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: Methodological
- Movement of the argument: It establishes the difference between the stability of revelation and the changeability of the tools of understanding, making interpretation dependent on knowledge.
- Key terms: Stability of the text, movement of understanding, knowledge, the Wise Revelation.
- Degree of centrality: Primary.
This atom shows that, for Shahrur, the text is fixed in its source, but its understanding changes as the tools of knowledge change. This makes renewal for him tied to the renewal of reading, not to a change in the text.
Links that help with reading
- Contemporary reading methodology
- The methodological introduction to contemporary reading
- Sunna is not a second revelation
Grounding
- Supporting text: «٤- بما أن التنزيل الحكيم هو كلام الله: { وَإِنْ أَحَدٌ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ اسْتَجَارَكَ فَأَجِرْهُ حَتَّى يَسْمَعَ كَلَامَ اللهِ } (التوبة ٦)، فوجب بالضرورة أن يكون مكتفياً ذاتياً، وهو كالوجود لا يحتاج إلى أيّ شيء من خارجه لفهمه، هذا لإيماننا واعتقادنا بأنّ خالق الكون بكلماته هو نفسه موحي التنزيل الحكيم بكلامه، وهو الله سبحانه وتعالى. لذا فإن مفاتيح فهم التنزيل الحكيم ليست من خارجه بل هي بالضرورة داخله (تفصيل الكتاب) وما علينا إلا البحث عنها فيه. وانطلاقاً من أنّ أبجدية كلام الله هي فهم المصطلحات – بحيث أوردنا جزءاً خاصّاً بها في آخر الكتيب – فإنّ فهم هذه المصطلحات يعتمد على تطبيق منهج معرفي في مهمّة التعامل مع نصوص التنزيل الحكيم. وما دامت المعرفة أسيرة أدواتها – وهذا ما سنشرحه في المنهج – فإن التنزيل الحكيم مطلق في ذاته، لكنه نسبي لقارئه لأنّ نسبيته تتبع تطوّر نظم المعرفة وأدواتها لدى الإنسان، وهذا ما نطلق عليه ثبات النص في ذاته وحركة المحتوى لقارئه في فهمه، ومن هنا نفهم لماذا كان النبي (ص) ممتنعاً عن شرح الكتاب كله إلا في الشعائر فقط».
Related verses
Place of grounding in the book
- Book: A Guide to Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation.
- Location: In the first section of the book
- Type of grounding: Close evidence.
- Marker that helps verification: The stability of the text in itself
- Reading note: The location is appropriate because it mentions the stability of the text in itself and that understanding changes with the development of the tools of knowledge, which is exactly the meaning of the atom.
Degree of documentation
- Level: Structurally documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom relies on more than one piece of evidence or on a clear combination of closely related formulations.
- Reason for classification: The evidence states the stability of the text and the change of understanding with the development of knowledge.
- Limits of reading: The formulation above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the evidence is explicitly verbatim.
Its function in the book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares the way for it.
Related to
Editorial note
The analytical formulation links stability to the changing of understanding, whereas the evidence itself remains the direct point of grounding.