Intended Meaning
The decisive verses in the Mother of the Book are understood as rulings whose original meaning is fixed; therefore, ijtihad does not apply to them. Ijtihad is limited to other subjects connected to them that lie outside this fixedness.
Atom Structure in the Atlas
- Argument type: definitional
- Argument movement: It renders the decisive verses fixed and outside the domain of ijtihad.
- Central terms: the decisive verses, fixedness, ijtihad, the Mother of the Book.
- Degree of centrality: foundational.
The decisive verses are defined as a relatively closed semantic sphere whose core is not subject to alteration; rather, they are treated as a fixed reference point.
Links That Aid Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration
- the contemporary reading methodology
- the Mother of the Book
Evidence
- Supporting text: “The Mother of the Book, as a set of fixed decisive verses, leaves no room for ijtihad concerning them.”
Location of the Evidence in the Book
- Book: The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration.
- Location: in the opening sections of the book, in defining the scope of ijtihad
- Type of evidence: closely related textual witness.
- Verification aid: all the decisive verses
- Reading note: the text states that the portion not subject to ijtihad comprises all the decisive verses, and this almost directly supports the atom.
Documentation Level
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of the reading: the wording above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is cited word for word.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional: it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in constructing the idea.
Note for the Reader
The definition should be kept within its limits, without burdening it with interpretive extensions.