Intended meaning
The author holds that the sayings of the Prophet and the Companions are not to be treated as sacred texts in themselves, but rather as human exertions tied to their historical context. Therefore, they are not granted authority equal to that of the Qur’an.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: Critical
- Movement of the argument: Human sayings are not elevated to the sanctity of the foundational text.
- Key terms: the sayings of the Prophet and the Companions, sacred texts, exertions, historical context, the authority of the Qur’an.
- Degree of centrality: Central.
This atom distinguishes between the binding text and the interpretive or exertive statement, and thus does not grant the latter sanctity equal to it. In doing so, it preserves the centrality of the Qur’an as the point of reference.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur, the Qur’an in Contemporary Thought
- Critique of heritage, jurisprudence, and interpretation
- Inherited jurisprudence is a human historical construction that does not possess authority equal to the Qur’an
Basis
- Supporting text: “The sayings of the Prophet and the Companions as sacred texts.”
The basis’s location in the book
- Book: The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought.
- Location: in the first section of the book
- Type of basis: Close witness.
- Sign that helps verification: the Wise Revelation
- Reading note: This location is suitable as support because it establishes the return of authority to the Revelation, not to the life of Muhammad and the Companions, and it is close to the atom.
Degree of documentation
- Level: Directly documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom relies on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: The formulation above is an analytical summary, and is not treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted textually.
Its function in the book
Its function here is declarative; it establishes a result on which what follows in the argument depends.
Related to
Editorial note
It prevents equating human sayings with the text.