This is a lexical entry that gathers the technical meaning of this term in Shahrur across his various books, and connects its multiple uses.
This entry belongs to the Shahrur lexicon. For thematic reading, one may refer to Shahrur’s major themes and shared concepts.
Meaning in Shahrur
Interpretation is the intellectual act by which the ambiguous is returned to its objective meaning or to the law that reveals its reality, so that the report becomes epistemic information consistent with reality. It is a tool for understanding what cannot be taken at its apparent face value alone, and for preventing fixation on transmitted reports in a way that freezes knowledge and blocks the renewal of understanding.
Distinctions
- It is not restricted to the univocal; the univocal is the domain of ijtihad, whereas interpretation is the domain of the ambiguous.
- It is not equivalent to the traditional exegetical method based on collecting opinions; rather, it seeks to uncover the rational law and the objective meaning of the text.
- It is not itself the cause of disagreement, but rather its misuse or the stagnation of understanding at the level of the literal report.
- It does not engage with the unseen as a sheer abstraction, but rather turns it into knowledge that can be understood within reality.
Places in his books
- The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration: interpretation in Shahrur is a function specific to the ambiguous, and it means returning the text to its objective truth or to its rational law. It is also the tool that turns report into information, and prevents the epistemic stagnation resulting from mere reliance on transmitted reports
What it adjoins and differs from
- The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration presents a project for rebuilding understanding of the Qur’an, religion, and legislation on contemporary foundations
- ijtihad pertains to the univocal
- rational interpretation turns the unseen into knowledge consistent with reality
- rational interpretation rebuilds the unseen and religion on the basis of freedom and knowledge
- interpretation froze the movement of knowledge
- interpretation is specific to the ambiguous
- interpretation is the cause of disagreement
- interpretation pertains to the ambiguities
- distinguishing between the univocal and the ambiguous distributes ijtihad and interpretation methodologically
- the contemporary reading requires a new interpretive method that goes beyond traditional exegesis
- the methodical reading of the text gathers the verses and rearranges the elaboration around interpretation
- the report turns into information through interpretation