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conclusion 491actually took place in history) and our understanding of themas historical (shaped by our historical context). Likewise, if weread the legal injunctions of messengerhood we need to considerboth their nature as being historic (as legal measures for aconcrete period of time in history) and our understanding ofthem as historical (because we study them with the epistemologicalparadigms of the twenty-first century).14. The freedom to exercise ijtih§d, the individual interpretation ofthe sacred text, is conditioned. One should not allow people toapply it too freely or too narrowly. We have stressed that thecriterion of a legitimate ijtih§d is whether its outcome correspondswith social reality. We defined an ijtih§d as correct andacceptable if it brings the sacred text into harmony with objectivereality. And because objective reality constantly changes,the outcome of our ijtih§ds will also constantly change. If nocongruence between objective reality and the sacred text isestablished, an ijtih§d shall be deemed unsuccessful or evenfalse. We applied the same criteria for modern parliamentarylegislation. A law is effective when the existing social order ofeveryday life has been successfully analysed and when appropriatelegislation has been found to administer and govern thesocial affairs of the citizens in an efficient way. As we heard inverse 137 of Sårat $l #Imr§n 2 and verse 20 of Al-#Ankabåt 3 ,such congruence establishes a perfect line from ‘becoming’ to‘progressing’, running from Adam to the Last Hour, and it isthe sole criteria of truth by which the authenticity of Allah’sword is confirmed. The criterion of a successful ijtih§d is certainlynot whether the Prophet’s companions, their successors,or any of the traditional jurists would agree with it or not.15. The act of ijm§#, of a consensus about sharÊ#a law, is carried outcollectively by living people, not dead fuqah§". One may disputepublic injunctions, such as what is permitted and forbidden,but one should never touch the thirteen absolute taboos(muÈarram§t) which we have discussed in chapters 1 and 2. Onemay, for example, introduce a ban on smoking in public places2‘There have been examples before you; so travel in the land and behold the fateof those who disbelieved’ ($l #Imr§n 3:137).3‘Say: “Travel in the land and see how Allah originated the creation; then Allahproduces the other generation. Allah truly has power over everything’ ( Al-#Ankabåt29:20).