Intended Meaning
Wrongdoing in Shahrur is not a passing mistake; rather, it is a deliberate, conscious decision made in full awareness that it is wrong. Therefore, wrongdoing only occurs in the presence of free will, because whoever has had their will taken away is not deemed a wrongdoer.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: Value-based
- Argument movement: Wrongdoing in Shahrur is a deliberate act, not an incidental error.
- Central terms: wrongdoing, consciousness, deliberation, will.
- Degree of centrality: Primary.
This atom establishes an understanding of wrongdoing as an ethical act tied to intention and choice, not as an unintentional lapse, thereby defining responsibility on the basis of will.
Reading Aids
- Muhammad Shahrur, the State and Society
- Civil State, Religion, and Authority
- Wrongdoing
- Falsehood and tyranny corrupt morals, while morals remain fixed above politics
Basis
- Supporting text: «Wrongdoing in Shahrur is not merely a passing mistake, but rather a deliberate, conscious decision made with awareness of its error. The realization of wrongdoing is conditioned on the presence of free will; one whose will has been taken away does not wrong».
Degree of Documentation
- Level: Directly documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom is based on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of the reading: The formulation above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted word for word.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Related To
Editorial Note
The wording has been made shorter and simpler while preserving the same central meaning.