The mutashābih is the domain that taʾwīl specializes in for Shahrur, not direct ijtihad. Its function is to be referred back to objective truth or rational law; therefore, it is linked to interpretive disagreement and to the need to gather the relevant verses.
- Umm al-Kitāb and its elaboration present a project for rebuilding the understanding of the Qur’an, religion, and legislation on contemporary foundations
- Ijtihad pertains to the muhkamat
- Rational taʾwīl turns the unseen into knowledge that is coherent with reality
- Taʾwīl is specific to the mutashābih
- Taʾwīl is the cause of disagreement
- Taʾwīl is confined to the mutashābihāt
- Distinguishing between the muhkam and the mutashābih methodically distributes ijtihad and taʾwīl
- The Qur’an is reclassified structurally
- The contemporary reading requires a new interpretive method that goes beyond the inherited exegesis
- The Book and the Qur’an are distinct
- The muhkam and the mutashābih each have their own elaboration
- Gathering the verses to understand the muhkam