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the theory of limits 177CHAPTER FOURTHE THEORY OF LIMITSThis chapter explains the existence of limits in MuÈammad’s (ß) message.It also shows that Islamic legislation must be based on theprinciples of ijtih§d that govern a controlled renewal and flexibleadaptation of legal rules to changing historical circumstances. Itoffers an alternative view to the current attempts to regard sharÊ#alaw as an eternally fixed body of rigid rulings which allows neitheradditions nor modifications, and whose strict rules must be followedby every Muslim to the letter. Our alternative reading of MuÈammad’s(ß) message allows us to reinterpret the rules of sharÊ#a law as constantlyevolving and, at the same time, to accept the sunna of theProphet (ß) as a model in applying Allah’s laws flexibly to the everchangingcircumstances in a variety of different cultures and economicsystems. We will start by explaining what we mean by ‘changeof Islamic legislation’ and why we still adhere to the belief in the‘eternal validity’ of MuÈammad’s (ß) message. We will then introducethe concepts of ‘straightness’ and ‘curvature’ as they apply to sharÊ#alaw and specify the upper and lower limits of Islamic legislation.A detailed application of our theory of limits to the area of Islamicinheritance and family law will follow in the next chapter.The Need of Change in Islamic LegislationLet us start by revisiting the distinction between al-isl§m and al-Êm§n:to believe in Allah’s existence and the Last Day are the quintessentialelements of al-isl§m, culminating in the creed that ‘there is no godbut God’. Being the root and stem of its three main sub-branches—ethics, law, and rituals— al-isl§m also contains the area of sharÊ#a lawwhich is, as we defined in chapter 1, the area of al-Êm§n, of MuÈammad’s(ß) messengerhood (since al-isl§m is the generic type of theparticular al-Êm§n). Followers of al-Êm§n believe that ‘MuÈammad isGod’s Messenger’ and are, thus, Muslim-Believers ( al-mu"minån).As law and legislation are subrooted in al-isl§m and as al-isl§m iseternally valid, MuÈammad’s message is also eternally valid. The