What is meant
The author distinguishes between divine prohibition and legal prohibition, so they must not be conflated. The former is a religious ruling issued by God, whereas the latter is a regulation imposed by authority or law according to expediency and circumstance.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: Distinguishing
- Argument movement: It separates divine prohibition from legal prohibition, so they are not conflated.
- Key terms: divine prohibition, legal prohibition, authority, expediency.
- Degree of centrality: Central.
The atom clarifies that a religious ruling is one thing, and legal regulation is another; thus it prevents equating what is prohibited by law with what is forbidden in religion, or vice versa.
Links to help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Religion and Authority
- Legislation, Limits, and Prohibition
- Filial piety is an innate value, and punishment for it is subject to the legal limits
Grounding
- Supporting text: «It distinguishes between divine prohibition and legal prohibition».
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 interpretation: The formulation above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is transmitted word for word.
Its function in the book
Its function here is definitional; it sets out a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
The atom depends on a clear conceptual distinction.