Intended Meaning
Muhammad Shahrur holds that the Revelation is free from arbitrariness, excess, and padding, and that every word in it is assigned a specific function. For this reason, he criticizes many interpretive and jurisprudential practices because they deal with the text in a way that contravenes this principle.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: methodological
- Movement of the argument: it denies arbitrariness and excess in the Revelation and assigns a specific function to every word.
- Central terms: Revelation, arbitrariness, excess, function.
- Degree of centrality: pivotal.
This atom is based on the principle of textual precision; it prevents a bloated reading and pushes toward searching for the function of each word within the structure of the text.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence
- the contemporary reading methodology
- Avoidance Does Not Equal Prohibition
Basis
- Supporting text: “He holds that arbitrariness, verbosity, and excess have no place in the Revelation, and that many interpretive and jurisprudential practices violate this principle.”
Location of the Basis in the Book
- Book: Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence.
- Location: in the first section of the book, where he criticizes the dominance of rules over the text.
- Type of basis: close witness.
- Marker that helps verify it: it leads us to another serious matter
- Reading note: the location is apt because it rejects arbitrariness in understanding the text and affirms that the verses carry credibility first.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: structurally documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on more than one witness or on a clear composition of closely related expressions.
- Reason for classification: the idea is repeated clearly in three close witnesses.
- Limits of reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is cited textually.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports or prepares a larger conclusion in the chapter.
Related to
Editorial Note
The atom is composite and expands on three closely related witnesses.