This page explains a conceptual relationship between two poles within Shahrur’s thought, and how this relationship operates in the construction of meaning.
Within a Broader Family
This formulation belongs to the field of prohibition and the limits of authority over it. Its witness indicates a specific locus of the issue, while the encompassing family presents the relation of prohibition to God and to the message, and the negation of its possession by human beings or by the state.
The Meaning of the Relationship
The intended meaning is that prohibition is not a general matter owned by political administration or by modern state institutions, but rather belongs to the messengerly authority that possesses the right of religious legislation. The modern state may forbid or regulate, but it does not create prohibition as a binding religious ruling; because this ruling is tied to the message itself.
The Two Sides of the Relationship
- First side: prohibition
- Relationship: is the exclusive domain of
- Second side: messengerly authority, and the modern state
Evidence
- Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence via Legislation and prohibition are the exclusive domain of the message, not the state
- Witness: legislation and prohibition are the exclusive domain of the message, not the state. This group brings together the fact that prohibition requires messengerly authority and that the modern state prevents but does not prohibit, in order to affirm that prohibition is not a political-administrative function but a specific legislative authority
Its Effect in the Knowledge Map
This relationship acquires its importance because it draws a clear boundary between two domains in the conceptual map: the domain of the message as the source of prohibition, and the domain of the modern state as an agency of regulation and prevention, not of prohibition. In this way, it helps determine the place of prohibition within the juridical system and prevents confusion between religious authority and political authority in the construction of rulings.