The Intended Meaning
The author sees that correct ijtihad does not take place outside the text, but within the text itself, and specifically in detailing the muhkam verses. Thus, the legitimate field of ijtihad is to clarify these muhkam verses and determine their meanings, not to establish an independent legislation apart from them.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: Methodological
- Movement of the argument: It confines ijtihad within the text and in detailing the muhkam verses, not outside it.
- Key terms: ijtihad, the text, the muhkam verses, detailing.
- Degree of centrality: Primary.
It defines the scope of ijtihad in Shahrur’s view as an act that explains the muhkam verses and clarifies their meanings, not as an independent legislative act apart from them.
Reading Aids
- Muhammad Shahrur, Umm al-Kitab and Its Elaboration
- The contemporary reading method
- Restricted divine prohibition negates the messenger’s legislative independence
Basis
- Supporting text: “Correct ijtihad is not outside the text but in the text, specifically in detailing the muhkam verses.”
Place of the Basis in the Book
- Book: Umm al-Kitab and Its Elaboration.
- Location: in the final section of the book, within the discussion of the principle of ijtihad.
- Type of basis: Close evidence.
- Marker to aid verification: ijtihad occurs only within the domain of the text
- Reading note: This passage is suitable as support because it states that ijtihad takes place within the text and specifically in detailing the muhkam verses.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: Directly documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom relies 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 explicitly verbatim.
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
The atom relies on a methodological definition that needs to be connected to the atoms that follow it.