What Shahrur Says in the Witness
The witness states that the center of Islam is God’s word in the Qur’an, not the sayings of the Prophet and the Companions as sacred texts, and that these sayings are regarded as “historical documents.”
Evidence
“He affirms that the center of Islam is God’s word in the Qur’an, not the sayings of the Prophet and the Companions as sacred texts; rather, he sees them as historical documents.”
Atlas Explanation
The atom records a distinction between the Qur’an on the one hand and the sayings of the Prophet and the Companions on the other: the former is identified as the locus of God’s word and the center of Islam, while the latter are not described in the witness as sacred texts, but as historical documents. This describes the place of the distinction in the argument, not an independent definition of the concept of history.
Qualified Inference
It may cautiously be understood that this distinction precludes equating the sayings of the Prophet and the Companions with the Qur’an in terms of sanctity. However, the witness does not elaborate on the meaning of authority, nor does it by itself specify which of these sayings are accepted or rejected, or how they are used as evidence.
Open Question
What method does Shahrur propose for examining these “historical documents,” and what consequences does he draw from this for the Sunna and jurisprudence? The available witness does not answer this question; broader passages from the book are needed.
Reading Links
- Muhammad Shahrur the Qur’an in Contemporary Thought
- the Book, the Qur’an, and the Mother of the Book
- the Qur’an
- the Prophet
- Inherited jurisprudence is a human historical construction that does not possess authority equal to the Qur’an
the Qur’an in Contemporary Thought · Inherited jurisprudence is a human historical construction that does not possess authority equal to the Qur’an