What Is Meant
Shahrur sees the concept of «Ahl al-Dhimma» as a historical term tied to an older context, not a concept suitable for regulating the modern civil state. Therefore, it should not be treated as a permanent rule in the system of governance or citizenship.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: Critical
- Movement of the argument: It strips contemporary validity from a historical term.
- Central terms: Ahl al-Dhimma, historical term, civil state, citizenship.
- Degree of centrality: Secondary.
It works to dismantle remnants of an old categorization when it is used in the present, and supports the transition from group-based rulings to the concept of equal citizenship.
Links That Help with Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur, Religion and Authority
- Critique of Heritage, Jurisprudence, and Exegesis
- Civil state
- Citizenship
- Jurisprudence is historical and civil law is separate from it
Basis
- Supporting text: “He criticizes the concept of “Ahl al-Dhimma” as a historical term that is not suitable for the modern civil state.”
Location of the Basis in the Book
- Book: Religion and Authority.
- Location: Within the final section of the book, in the discussion of citizenship.
- Type of basis: Nearby evidence.
- Marker to aid verification: A historically obsolete term
- Reading note: This passage works as evidence because it rejects the concept of Ahl al-Dhimma as a historical concept incompatible with modern citizenship.
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 exactly.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial Note
The atom is brief, but important in dismantling the language of classical political jurisprudence.