Meaning
Shahrur holds that prohibition is a right belonging to God alone; human beings therefore have no authority to introduce new prohibitions of their own. The role of human beings, rather, lies in regulating and restricting what is permissible according to need and public interest, not in legislating through prohibition.
Structure of the Atom in the Atlas
- Argument type: legislative
- Argument movement: affirms that prohibition is not within human authority
- Central terms: prohibition, divine prerogative, permissible matters, regulation of society.
- Degree of centrality: foundational.
This atom establishes that, for Shahrur, prohibition is a divine principle, whereas human interpretation remains within the bounds of regulation and restriction. It thus prevents human beings from moving from administering what is permissible to manufacturing prohibitions.
Links That Aid Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Religion and Authority
- Legislation, Limits, and Prohibition
- Prohibition
- Islamic heritage became a criterion rather than remaining material for study
Evidence
- Supporting text: “He distinguishes between divine sovereignty and human sovereignty, and holds that prohibition is an exclusively divine prerogative. The sphere of human interpretation, by contrast, lies in restricting what is permissible and regulating society, not in creating new prohibitions.”
Location of Evidence in the Book
- Book: Religion and Authority.
- Location: in the final section of the book, in its discussion of the limits of legislation and the separation of powers.
- Type of evidence: closely related passage.
- Verification aid: not adding prohibitions
- Reading note: this passage is suitable evidence because it distinguishes between divine prohibition and human interpretation, and is very close to the content of the atom.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit passage closely corresponding 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 passage is cited word for word.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional: it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in developing the idea.
Related to
Note to the Reader
In this conception, regulation is not the same as prohibition.