The Universality of the Muhammadan Message
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Formulation of the claim
Shahrur repeatedly says that the universality of the Muhammadan message appears in the fact that the Qur’an sets out general muhkamāt first and then details them, rather than giving only concrete local rulings.
Explanation
He compares the earlier messages with the Muhammadan message, and says that the latter carries a legislative structure capable of generalization. Instead of rulings being “ready-made for a specific case,” the Qur’an comes with principles and fundamentals that can be elaborated on a broad scale. For this reason, he sees the universality of the message not as a slogan but as a mode of composition within the text itself. This point explains why he gives great importance to distinguishing between the principle and the elaboration.
Its place in the episode’s argument
This is the philosophical conclusion that connects everything that came before: the Qur’an is universal because it contains the fundamentals, not closed partial cases. From here it opens onto ijtihād and application in every age.
Limits of the claim
He does not deny that the Qur’an has specific rulings; rather, he says that its structure is broader than historical particularity.
Brief witness
“Here is the universality of the Muhammadan message”
Nearby links
- Shahrur - the Qur’an
- Shahrur - Islam
- Book: The Book and the Qur’an