The Intended Meaning
Shahrur links the building of the civil state with the separation of powers, and regards this separation as a practical part of the prophetic model. For him, the civil state is based on the distribution of powers, not their concentration in a single hand.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: political
- Argument movement: the civil state is based on the distribution of powers, not their concentration.
- Key terms: separation of powers, civil state, distribution of powers.
- Degree of centrality: central.
The atom highlights that the integrity of the civil state rests on the absence of a monopoly over power. It makes the separation among powers a practical safeguard against concentration and despotism.
Links for Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Religion and Power
- The Civil State, Religion, and Power
- Civil State
- Jurisprudence is historical and civil law is separate from it
Basis
- Supporting text: “He links the building of the civil state to the separation of powers, and considers this a practical extension of the prophetic model”.
Place of the Basis in the Book
- Book: Religion and Power.
- Location: in the first section of the book
- Type of basis: near witness.
- Marker that helps verification: the separation between God and the ruler
- Reading note: the text speaks of the separation between God and the ruler and then explains the structure of the state, but it does not match the atom directly, so it is a near basis.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit witness close to the formulation of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the wording above is an analytical summary, and is not treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is explicitly verbatim.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is methodological; it regulates the mode of reading or inference that the book follows.
Related to
Editorial Note
The focus here is on the institutional structure, not on individuals.