What Is Attributed to Shahrur
Shahrur says that ijtihad in the sacred text occurs «exclusively» in the verses that elaborate the muhkamat. He makes the validity of its result contingent on «credibility between the text and reality», and on the extent to which ijtihad responds to objective reality and to the reader’s understanding of it at the historical moment of reading. He qualifies this by requiring that people not be subjected to hardship and that their freedom be restricted as little as possible.
He extends this criterion to parliamentary legislation: for him, a parliament’s success depends on the correspondence of its legislation with, and its responsiveness to, objective reality.
Atlas Explanation
In this atom, «correct reading» is the name of a methodological criterion in Shahrur’s thought, not a claim that every contemporary reading is correct. The domain he specifies for ijtihad is the verses that elaborate the muhkamat; he then ties the assessment of ijtihad’s result to its relation to reality and to the constraints of hardship and freedom.
For the book’s broader context, see: Muhammad Shahrur Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation. For an account of the methodological framework, see: the methodology of contemporary reading.
Synthetic Inference
Taken together, the elements of the statement imply that, in this context, the correctness of a reading is a matter of degree rather than a judgment detached from its conditions: it varies according to the extent to which ijtihad responds to objective reality, within the domain Shahrur assigns to ijtihad.
Open Question and Limits of the Evidence
This text alone does not explain how the reader is to identify «objective reality» in practical terms, nor what procedure should be followed when readers or legislators differ in their description of reality. The evidence also states Shahrur’s criterion but does not, on its own, provide an independent proof of its validity.