What Is Attributed to Shahrur
The available material presents a formulation attributed to Shahrur: disbelief is understood as “the tongue of statement,” whereas polytheism is understood as “the tongue of state.” This formulation is recorded here as a paraphrase requiring review, not as a verbatim quotation from the episode.
Atlas Explanation
At a minimum, the distinction is read as separating the terms disbelief and polytheism, rather than asserting that they are synonymous. The atlas does not add a detailed definition of “statement” or “state” unless a documented text explains it.
Qualified Inference
If the formulation is confirmed upon review of the episode, it indicates a difference in the mode of description between disbelief and polytheism in this passage. The available evidence in its current form does not establish that one is always verbal or that the other is always behavioral.
Open Question and Documentation Limits
What is the full verbatim wording in episode 16? And what is the context that defines or applies the distinction between “the tongue of statement” and “the tongue of state”? The original episode must be consulted, then compared with the related books: Islam and Faith, Religion and Power, and Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence.