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interview with muhammad shahrur 515tion. We have two vectors, x and y, a hyperbole. We have a basicrisk. We plot a curve and put a line on the top of it. This line isthe upper limit, and there is a lower limit. Then I thought of theconcept of ‘God’s limits’ (Èudåd All§h). I returned here to the officeand opened the Qur"an. Just as in mathematics we have five waysof representing limits, I found five cases in which the notion ofGod’s limits occurred. What they have in common is the ideathat God has not set down exact rules of conduct in such mattersas inheritance, criminal punishments, marriage, interest, andbanking practices, but only the limits within which societies cancreate their own rules and laws. Thieves do not have to have theirhands amputated. That is merely the maximum punishmentallowed.I have written about ideas of ‘straightness’ ( al-istiq§ma) and universalmoral codes and ethics. The idea was at first only a footnotein my last chapter, but I saw that it applied to my mainargument, so I corrected everything I wrote about Èudåd All§h inthe book in order to be consistent. Then I considered my argumentsound. Ja#far returned to Syria in February 1990. I showedhim the text and he said, ‘Congratulations. Now your argumentis strong.’ On April 1, 1990, I gave the book to a specialist inArabic grammar and style, who corrected only the mistakes inwritten expression. He took about a month. Then we sent thebook to censorship for approval and then it went to press.DFE: Did the censor change anything?MS: Nothing.DFE: What were the first reactions to the book after publication?MS: This was a most amazing time for me. My publisher, \usaynal-#^d§ of D§r al-Ah§lÊ, and I had an argument. I was publishingat my own expense, as I still do, and he wanted to print only1,000 copies. He said, ‘No, maybe it won’t sell.’ I told him I waspaying the expenses and could decide for myself. So we agreedon 2,000 copies.The Book and the Qur"an was a bestseller at the September 1990Damascus Book Fair. I was an unknown author, yet 400 copieswere sold right away, and the entire first edition was sold out byDecember, only three months later. Then we reprinted, and theLebanese publisher, Riyad al-Rayyes, asked \usayn al-#^d§ to