This page explains a conceptual relationship between two sides within Shahrur’s thought, and how this relationship operates in the construction of meaning.
Within a broader family
This relationship falls within the conception of the civil state as a state of law and citizenship, not a prohibiting authority. Its witness highlights a specific aspect, and the family brings together plurality, freedom of opinion, obedience to the law, and the separation of powers.
Meaning of the relationship
This relationship means that the civil state undertakes the regulation of the public sphere through law and citizenship, not by granting things the status of licit or forbidden. Its function here is neither religious nor doctrinal; rather, its function is to regulate public relations and establish rules of prohibition and obligation in a way that preserves the shared order. In this way, its regulation of the public sphere is based on civil legislation, while prohibition and permissibility remain outside its jurisdiction.
The two sides of the relationship
- The first side: the civil state
- The relationship: regulates
- The second side: the public sphere through law and citizenship without possessing the power of prohibition
Evidence
- Islam and Human Being via The civil state regulates the public sphere through law, not through religious prohibition
- Witness: the civil state regulates the public sphere through law, not through religious prohibition, establishes that the state does not possess prohibition, and that God alone possesses licitness and prohibition, in order to distinguish between the divine jurisdiction over licitness and prohibition and the state’s function in regulation and prevention
Its effect on the knowledge map
This relationship shows a pivotal boundary in the conceptual structure between state and religion. It distinguishes the state’s jurisdiction as legal and regulatory, and prevents confusion between authority in the public sphere and religious authority over prohibition. It is therefore important because it confirms the place of the civil state within the network as a framework that organizes society through citizenship and law, and establishes a clear separation between what is administrative and public, and what is divine in licitness and prohibition.