Intended Meaning
The Mother of the Book is the closed, non-ijtihadi muhkamat verses It represents the fixed reference that is not opened to ijtihadi interpretation or to change from within
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: legislative
- Movement of the argument: confines ijtihad outside the Mother of the Book.
- Key terms: the Mother of the Book, the muhkamat, ijtihad.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
This atom makes the Mother of the Book a reference closed to ijtihad, thus establishing fixed limits and separating them from the domains of shifting interpretation.
Reading Aids
- Muhammad Shahrur Contemporary Reading Guide to the Wise Revelation
- The Book, the Qur’an, and the Mother of the Book
- The Mother of the Book
- The Muhammadan message is a final transitional message, and legislation in it is historical ijtihad
Grounding
- Supporting text: “The Mother of the Book: the closed muhkamat verses that are not open to ijtihad.”
Grounding Location in the Book
- Book: Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation.
- Location: in the first section of the book
- Type of grounding: close witness.
- Verification cue: the fixed element in legislation
- Reading note: the passage explicitly states that the fixed element in legislation is the muhkamat verses, which is a close witness that accords with 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 wording above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is transmitted textually.
Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in constructing the idea.
Related to
Editorial Note
The atom defines the scope of change within the text.