Intended Meaning
Islamic jurisprudence is understood here as a historical, regulatory system with a civil character, not as civil legislation itself. Therefore, the passage separates Islamic jurisprudence from civil law and ties the former to its historical context.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: Distinguishing
- Movement of the argument: Separates historical jurisprudence from civil law
- Key terms: Islamic jurisprudence, civil law, historical, legislation.
- Degree of centrality: Central.
This atom draws a boundary between jurisprudence as a historical product and civil law as an independent field. Its importance lies in preventing the equation of the jurisprudential tradition with contemporary civil legislation.
Reading Aids
- Muhammad Shahrur Religion and Authority
- The Civil State, Religion, and Authority
- Historical jurisprudence and civil law are separate from it
Basis
- Supporting text: “The passage distinguishes between Islamic jurisprudence and civil legislation.”
Place of the Basis in the Book
- Book: Religion and Authority.
- Location: In the final section of the book, within the distinction between jurisprudence and civil legislation.
- Type of basis: Close evidence.
- Verification marker: Historical civil law
- Reading note: The paragraph describes Islamic jurisprudence as a historical civil law and limits its role in legislation, which accords with the atom.
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 textually.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial Note
The distinction here is between two domains, not merely between two opinions.