Intended Meaning
Shahrur holds that the Prophet’s legislative acts in the civil community were not a permanent legislative revelation, but rather situational ijtihad tied to their historical circumstances. Therefore, he does not regard them as an obligatory prophetic Sunna for later generations, but as a human product in the capacity of prophethood, not in the capacity of messengership.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: Distinguishing
- Movement of the argument: It renders the Prophet’s legislative acts situational ijtihad
- Key terms: the prophetic Sunna, situational ijtihad, legislation, messengership.
- Degree of centrality: Central.
This atom separates binding revelation from the Prophet’s acts connected to the circumstances of the civil community. In doing so, it situates the Sunna in the atlas as a historical domain rather than a permanent legislative source.
Reading Aids
- Muhammad Shahrur: A Guide to Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation
- The Sunna between Messengership and Prophethood
Basis
- Supporting text: «He insists that legislation after the final messengership became human and hanif, and that the Prophet’s legislative acts in the civil community were situational ijtihad, not revelation».
Basis Location in the Book
- Book: A Guide to Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation.
- Location: In the first section of the book, within the explanation of the station of prophethood and messengership
- Type of basis: Close evidence.
- Verification marker: He came as a prophet who exercised ijtihad
- Reading note: The passage distinguishes between prophethood and messengership and describes the Prophet as an ijtihad-practicing figure in the capacity of prophethood, which is very close to the atom.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: Structurally documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom rests on more than one piece of evidence or on a clear combination of closely related expressions.
- Reason for classification: The passages negate the revelatory status of the Sunna and describe the Prophet’s acts as situational ijtihad.
- Limits of the reading: The formulation above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the evidence is cited word for word.
Function in the Book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares the ground for it.
Editorial Note
Its function here is to remove ambiguity between revelation and ijtihad.