The Book and the Qur’an: A New Vision

Author's name: Dr. Muhammad Shahrour

The author re-read the Holy Revelation with new mechanisms, keeping in mind that it encompasses both divine absoluteness and human relativity in understanding. Like existence, it does not need anything from outside to understand it. The Creator of the universe with His words is the same One who inspired the Holy Revelation with His words: God Almighty. This reading led him to search for the keys to understanding the Holy Revelation, which are necessarily within it. It also led him to reconsider the concepts of the Salaf in light of the modern epistemological systems at his disposal. This was not to cast doubt on their intelligence, piety, or good intentions, but rather out of his belief that they interacted with the Holy Revelation and exerted themselves within their capabilities and cognitive framework. Today, we have a different epistemological framework that allows for a new and different reading. In his contemporary reading, Dr. Shahrour concluded that the Holy Revelation encompasses within its covers the prophecy of Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a prophet and his message as a messenger. From this perspective, His verses include the verses of prophecy that explain the laws and regulations of the universe, the laws of history, and the events of the messages and prophecies (stories), and they are subject to belief or denial, and the verses of the message that explain the rulings, commands, and prohibitions, and they are subject to obedience and disobedience.