What is meant
What is meant is that freedom of belief and freedom of opinion are intrinsic rights of people, and neither the Messenger nor anyone else has the authority to exercise guardianship over them or to act as their proxy So the Messenger’s task here is not to control people or compel them to believe, but to convey the message without a guardianship authority
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: Value-based
- Argument movement: It negates religious guardianship by the Messenger and affirms freedom of belief and opinion.
- Central terms: freedom of belief, freedom of opinion, the Messenger, guardianship.
- Degree of centrality: Primary.
This atom states that the message does not turn into an authority of guardianship over people, and it links prophetic conveying with respect for freedom of belief and opinion as two intrinsic rights.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: State and Society
- The Civil State, Religion, and Authority
- The Messenger
- The story of Moses and the righteous servant symbolizes the conflict between knowledge and law
Grounding
- Supporting text: “Freedom of belief and freedom of opinion are two intrinsic rights, and neither the Messenger nor anyone else has the right to act as a proxy for people.”
Place of grounding in the book
- Book: State and Society.
- Location: In the final section of the book, within the discussion of freedom of choice and the mission of the Messenger.
- Type of grounding: Close evidence.
- Verifying marker: He is not a proxy for anyone
- Reading note: The passage states that the Messenger’s task is not to act on behalf of people but to convey the message, and this is clear support for the atom.
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 verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted textually.
Its function in the book
Its function here is declarative; it establishes a result on which what follows depends in the progression of the argument.
Related to
Editorial note
This atom is central to the conception of the relationship between religion and authority.