What is meant
What is meant is that freedom is the foundation of society and is restricted only by an agreed constitution. As for the law, its function is to regulate practice within this constitutional framework. Therefore, the law does not set the limits of freedom itself; rather, it controls how it is exercised.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: Legislative
- Argument movement: The constitution limits freedom and the law regulates its practice.
- Central terms: freedom, constitution, law.
- Degree of centrality: Primary.
The atom establishes that freedom is foundational in society, and that its restriction can occur only through an agreed constitution. It then assigns to the law the role of regulating practice within this framework without confiscating the foundation.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: The State and Society
- The Civil State, Religion, and Power
- Freedom
- Freedom is the foundation limited by the constitution and regulated by the law
Basis
- Supporting text: “Freedom is the fundamental phenomenon in society, and it may not be restricted except by an agreed constitution, while the law regulates practice within this framework.”
Basis location in the book
- Book: The State and Society.
- Location: In the final section of the book, in the discussion of freedom and the constitution.
- Type of basis: Close evidence.
- Marker that helps verification: The constitution sets the framework and the law regulates
- Reading note: The passage explicitly distinguishes between the constitutional framework and the law’s regulation of practice, which corresponds to the atom in its direct sense.
Degree of documentation
- Level: Directly documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom relies on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: The formulation above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a literal quotation unless the witness is quoted verbatim.
Its function in the book
Its function here is methodological; it determines the mode of reading or inference followed by the book.
Related to
Editorial note
This atom is one of the strongest building blocks in constructing the concept of the civil state.