Intended meaning
Shahrur argues that expanding the tally of major sins and prohibitions in the name of increased piety harms Islam and Muslims, because it makes religion narrower instead of broader Likewise, this narrowing of religion does not strengthen commitment; rather, it weakens it
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: critical
- Argument movement: it criticizes the inflation of prohibitions because it narrows religion.
- Key terms: prohibitions, piety, religion, narrowing.
- Degree of centrality: central.
It warns against turning religiosity into an ever-growing list of prohibitions, because that changes religion’s purpose from facilitation to severity, and weakens the effect of commitment rather than strengthening it.
Links for reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: The State and Society
- Legislation, Limits, and Prohibition
- The story of Moses and the righteous servant symbolizes the conflict between knowledge and law
Basis of the claim
- Supporting text: “The expansion in counting major sins and prohibitions in the name of increased piety is seen by Shahrur as harmful to Islam and Muslims, because it narrows religion instead of broadening it.”
The basis in the book
- Book: The State and Society.
- Location: in the final section of the book
- Type of basis: close evidence.
- Marker for verification: excess in prohibitions
- Reading note: the passage criticizes excess in enumerating prohibitions and expanding them, thus supporting the atom in terms of its general meaning.
Degree of documentation
- Level: synthetically documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on more than one witness or on a clear combination of closely related expressions.
- Reason for classification: the evidence states directly that multiplying prohibitions narrows religion.
- Limits of the reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the evidence is quoted verbatim.
Its function in the book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares the ground for it.
Related to
Editorial note
This atom directs criticism toward excess in prohibition.