Intended Meaning
Muhammad Shahrur argues that the greatest danger lies not only in fabricating ḥadīth, but in interpreting the Qur’anic text outside its context Such interpretation removes the verses from their intended purposes, especially in the verses of fighting, tribulation, and inheritance
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: Critical
- Argument movement: He considers removing the text from its context more dangerous than fabricating ḥadīth.
- Key terms: interpretation, context, ḥadīth, purposes.
- Degree of centrality: Central.
It shifts the danger of deviation from the level of transmission to the level of understanding, because meaning may be distorted by moving outside the context. In this way, the criticism is directed at poor reading more than at the merely narrative problem.
Links That Help with Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence
- Critique of Heritage, Jurisprudence, and Exegesis
- Interpretation
- Avoidance Does Not Equal Prohibition
Basis
- Supporting text: “Interpreting the Qur’anic text outside its context, especially in the verses of fighting, tribulation, and inheritance, is, for Shahrur, more dangerous than fabricating ḥadīth itself.”
Basis Location in the Book
- Book: Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence.
- Location: Near the beginning of the book, within the warning against deviant interpretation.
- Type of basis: Close witness.
- Marker that helps verification: More dangerous than fabrication
- Reading note: This location is suitable as evidence because it explicitly states that more dangerous than fabricating ḥadīth is interpreting the verses outside their purposes and context.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: Structurally documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom relies on more than one witness or on a clear combination of closely related expressions.
- Reason for classification: Supported by two clear formulations that mention danger and the transgression of purposes.
- Limits of reading: The wording above is an analytical summary and is not treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is transmitted textually.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares for it.
Related to
Editorial Note
The critical meaning here is focused on interpretation detached from context.