Intended Meaning
The definite verses in the Mother of the Book are understood as rulings whose original signification is fixed; therefore, ijtihad does not enter into them and ijtihad is confined to what is connected to them in other subjects outside this fixedness
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Movement of the argument: it makes the definite verses fixed outside the scope of ijtihad.
- Central terms: definite verses, fixedness, ijtihad, Mother of the Book.
- Degree of centrality: foundational.
The definite verses are defined as a relatively closed semantic field; their original basis is not altered, but rather they are treated as a fixed point of reference.
Links Helpful for Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration
- The Method of Contemporary Reading
- Mother of the Book
Basis
- Supporting text: “The Mother of the Book as a set of fixed definite verses in which there is no room for ijtihad.”
The Basis’s Location in the Book
- Book: The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration.
- Location: at the beginning of the book within the definition of the scope of ijtihad
- Type of basis: close witness.
- Marker helpful for verification: all the definite verses
- Reading note: the text states that the part not subject to ijtihad is all of the definite verses, and this supports the atom almost directly.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom is based on an explicit 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 transmitted textually.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.
Editorial Note
The definition should be kept within its limits, without loading it with interpretive branches.