Intended Meaning
The text means that idols and statues, in themselves, are not the object of prohibition; rather, they come within the development of the human relationship to deities and symbols, as humanity moved from worshiping celestial bodies and nature to worshiping idols. The meaning here is connected to the history of human religiosity and to how forms of worship took shape across different stages.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: historical
- Argument movement: idols are understood by him within the history of religiosity and the transformation of symbols.
- Key terms: idols, symbols, human religiosity, worship of celestial bodies, nature.
- Degree of centrality: secondary.
This atom offers a historical reading of the formation of deities and symbols, not an abstract ruling on things themselves. Its value lies in linking prohibition to the historical context of religiosity.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Religion and Authority
- History, Development, and the Laws
- The Islamic heritage became a معيار instead of remaining material for study
Grounding
- Supporting text: «The passage explains the development of the human relationship with deities and symbols from the worship of celestial bodies, nature, and idols».
Place of Grounding in the Book
- Book: Religion and Authority.
- Location: in the early parts of the book, within the presentation of the development of the human relationship to symbols and deities.
- Type of grounding: close corroborating evidence.
- Marker to help verification: human relationship to deities
- Reading note: this passage is suitable as evidence because it presents the development of the human relationship to deities and symbols, and it is close to the intended atom.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of the reading: the wording 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 in the argument depends.
Related to
Editorial Note
The atom is historical because it explains the phenomenon through its development.