The intended meaning
This means that a person cannot choose or practice religion consciously unless he has a space of freedom within which to move. Freedom here is not an external embellishment, but a necessary condition for the human being to exercise his rational faculty and balance his natural right with his inner law. For this reason, religion is not based on coercion, because human maneuverability itself rests on choice, not compulsion.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: value-based
- Argument movement: makes freedom a prior condition for the human being to exercise choice and practice religion consciously.
- Key terms: freedom, choice, coercion.
- Degree of centrality: original.
The atom shows that freedom is not a marginal detail, but a condition for establishing religious and human responsibility, and therefore it is used to refute any conception that makes religion based on coercion.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur Religion and Authority
- Freedom, the Human Being, and Responsibility
- Freedom
- Islamic religion accords with human nature, and freedom is the basis of the human being
Basis
- Supporting text: «Shahrur’s theses in this passage hold that religion is not built on coercion, but on choice, consent, and awareness. Fitra is not instincts or desires, but the rational faculty and human values. Right guidance is the predominance of the rational side over the animal side, and deviation is the opposite. Obedience in the Wise Revelation is voluntary, whereas coercion is linked to prohibition and compulsion, not to religion. Civil authority has its own sphere in regulating society, but it does not have the right to impose religiosity on individuals. The traditional obedience to those in authority and allegiance as formulated in the reports were used to justify despotism. Freedom is not a passing Western concept, but is implicit in religion as “the firm bond.” The human being moves toward freedom when he balances his natural right with his inner natural law».
Degree of documentation
- Level: structurally documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on more than one witness or on a clear synthesis of closely related expressions.
- Reason for classification: supported by several statements about choice, consent, and rejection of coercion.
- Limits of reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted word for word.
Its function in the book
Its function here is declarative; it establishes a conclusion on which what follows depends in the course of the argument.
Related to
Editorial note
This atom is suitable for explaining his view of both authority and religiosity.