What is meant
Shahrur holds that the inherited juristic reading of abrogation, when tied to occasions of revelation, narrows the comprehensiveness of the Muhammadan message. Instead of understanding the message as addressed to all people, this reading makes it confined to a specific time and set of circumstances.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: Critical
- Argument movement: He holds that the inherited reading of abrogation narrows the universality of the message.
- Key terms: abrogation, universality of the message, occasions of revelation, inherited jurisprudence.
- Degree of centrality: Pivotal.
This atom criticizes confining the message to the circumstances of revelation, and defends its breadth and generality, while rejecting the reading that imprisons it in the past.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence
- Critique of Heritage, Jurisprudence, and Exegesis
- Occasions of revelation
- Avoidance Is Not the Same as Prohibition
Basis
- Supporting text: «Shahrur attacks the inherited juristic reading of abrogation and occasions of revelation».
Place of the basis in the book
- Book: Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence.
- Location: In the middle section of the book, within the discussion of occasions of revelation and historicity
- Type of basis: Close evidence.
- Marker that helps verification: The verse and its ruling become a historical, transitional matter
- Reading note: The passage links occasions of revelation to the historicity of the ruling and criticizes what leads to denying the message’s validity for every time and place; therefore, it serves as evidence for this atom.
Degree of documentation
- Level: Directly documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom rests on a clear witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: The wording above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted textually.
Its function in the book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares for it.
Related to
Editorial note
It is directly connected to the critique of excessive historical specification.