Intended Meaning
Muhammad Shahrur argues that traditional jurisprudence emerged in the age of codification, and was associated with al-Shafi’i and with a specific historical stage. For that reason, he considers much of what was attributed to Islam to be a human construct with no direct connection to the muṣḥaf, not a revealed text equal to the Qur’an.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Argument type: Historical
- Argument movement: Traditional jurisprudence is treated as a historical product, not as equivalent to the Qur’anic text.
- Key terms: traditional jurisprudence, the age of codification, al-Shafi’i, the muṣḥaf.
- Degree of centrality: Central.
It places jurisprudence in its historical context, thereby reducing the authority of sacralization and reconsidering its attribution to the text, as a human understanding formed in a specific time.
Reading Aids
- Muhammad Shahrur and the Qur’an in Contemporary Thought
- Critique of Heritage, Jurisprudence, and Exegesis
- Jurisprudence Is a Historical Human Heritage That Does Not Possess Authority Equal to the Qur’an
Basis
- Supporting text: “He links the emergence of traditional jurisprudence to the age of codification and to al-Shafi’i, and sees that much of the jurisprudence attributed to Islam has no connection to the muṣḥaf.”
Basis in the Book
- Book: The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought.
- Location: In the first section of the book, in the discussion of the age of codification
- Type of basis: Direct evidence.
- Verification marker: All of this came from the age of codification
- Reading note: The passage is suitable because it attributes the problem to the age of codification and to al-Shafi’i, and explicitly states that much of jurisprudence has no relation to the muṣḥaf.
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 formulation 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 the ground for it.
Related to
Editorial Note
This atom disentangles history from sacrality.