What Shahrur Attributes
Shahrur links what he calls “rule and the inheritance of the state” after the Prophet’s death to clothing a political conflict in religious garb. In this context, he distinguishes between two ideological covers: he attributes to the Umayyads an appeal to obedience to those in authority and predestination, and to the Abbasids an appeal to kinship with the Prophet and to the verses on inheritance and bequest.
In the same passage, he adds that interpreting the Qur’anic text outside its context—particularly the verses on fighting, tribulation, and inheritance—is, in his view, more dangerous than fabricating hadith itself.
Atlas Explanation
This page records Shahrur’s claim as stated and does not treat “kinship” and “inheritance” as synonyms: the quotation mentions kinship with the Prophet on the one hand, and verses on inheritance and bequest on the other. Nor does it turn this reference into a definition of inheritance; the point is the place of these verses in Shahrur’s political interpretation of history.
For the broader context: The conflict after the Prophet’s death was political, and The Civil State, Religion, and Power.
Synthetic Conclusion
Within the structure of Shahrur’s argument, attributing an appeal to kinship, inheritance, and bequest serves as an example of how interpretation of the text may be used to confer religious legitimacy on a political conflict. This is an inference from the arrangement of his remarks in the cited passage, not an independent investigation into the history of the Abbasid state.
Open Question and Limits
The cited passage does not specify which verses on inheritance and bequest he means, nor does it explain the historical events or texts on which he bases his attribution of this use to the Abbasids. The page therefore records Shahrur’s interpretation and does not settle the historical accuracy of the attribution beyond this source.
Muhammad Shahrur Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence
Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence · The conflict after the Prophet’s death was political