Direct answer
What is meant here is that milla, in the account attributed to Shahrur, is not reducible to an abstract intellectual identity; rather, it is connected to the conduct and inherited rituals that people persist in practicing. This formulation is limited by the available evidence and is not a definitive, comprehensive definition of the term.
What is attributed to Shahrur
The summary of Episode 14 attributes to Shahrur an interpretation of milla as that which is continually repeated in practice, linking it to recurrent behavior and inherited rituals.
The available evidence here is an editorial summary rather than a verbatim transcript, so this attribution remains subject to review.
Atlas explanation
This account indicates that, at this point, the semantic focus is on established, inherited practice rather than merely declaring an affiliation or adopting an idea. This does not mean that every repeated act is called a milla, nor that the term is necessarily detached from all creedal content; the available evidence does not establish either of these further claims.
For review in nearby sources: Episode 14, Islam and Faith, Religion and Power, Toward New Principles for Islamic Jurisprudence.
Synthetic inference
If a verbatim transcript of the episode is established, this interpretation may be read as shifting the focus of the concept of milla from abstract mental affiliation to a recurrent pattern of practice. This is an inference that organizes the meaning, not a statement quoted from Shahrur.
Open question and source limitations
Does the audio source itself explain this meaning’s relationship to a specific verse, or precisely clarify what falls under “inherited rituals”? The material available here does not settle this. Nor does it provide a usable verbatim quotation to substantiate the common formulations concerning milla; the original episode and the nearby written sources must be consulted before adopting a broader definition.