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The Approving and Controlling Nature of the qur"§nrevelation 145The scripture We have revealed to you [Prophet] is the truth andconfirms the scriptures that [came with] it [m§ baina yadaihi]... (F§ãir35:31, AH)The disbelievers say, ‘We will believe neither this qur"§n nor the scripturesthat came [with] it [alladhi baina yadaihi].’ (Saba’ 34:31)Generations of exegetes interpreted the phrase m§ baina yadaihi as‘scriptures (the Gospel and the Torah) that preceded it (the Qur"§n)’,ignoring the fact that their interpretation seriously undermined theauthority of MuÈammad’s prophethood. Having been provided witha revelation that simply confirmed previous scriptures would havedramatically sabotaged the Prophet’s (ß) mission to convince peoplethat he had received a new message from God. They also ignoredMuÈammad’s (ß) assurance that he had brought a revelation thatabrogated previous scriptures including the Torah and the Gospel.How could they ever think that the qur"§n only confirmed what hadbeen revealed before! The ‘scripture that came with’ the qur"§n wasMuÈammad’s (ß) messengerhood (ris§la) that needed to be confirmedby the truth. Verses that instruct people to pray, fast, go on a pilgrimage,arrange divorce and inheritance, and such, are verses thatrequire absolute obedience and therefore need to be authorized.Approval had to come from outside his messengerhood, and it camethrough MuÈammad’s (ß) prophethood. Objective reality, encapsulatedwithin the qur"§n and the sab# al-math§nÊ, confirms the rules ofhuman behaviour and sanctions what has been declared as allowedor taboo (Èal§l au-Èar§m). Disbelievers are those (see 34:31 above) whobelieve neither in the qur"§n nor the umm al-kit§b that ‘came downwith it’. In sum, revelation to MuÈammad (ß) in the form of the qur"§nconfirmed the umm al-kit§b which had preceded the qur"§n (35:31).The qur"§n’s ambiguous nature ( al-tash§buh) was the ‘miracle’ thatMuÈammad (ß) brought to the people. It was the most abstract miraclethat God could ever have created. Previous prophets had to relyon concrete miracles which they performed in front of a disbelievingcrowd (e.g., when Moses turned a staff into a snake inside thePharaoh’s palace). Without the performances of miracles prophetscould not convince people that they were in the possession of a divinemessage. Their miracles were nothing but extratextual proof thattheir message came from God. This happened in humankind’s primitivephase when people thought with their senses and when onlyphenomena that defied the laws of nature would impress people.