What is meant
Hanifiyya here means movement within limits, that is, a religion that moves with time and place without departing from the constants It does not mean rigidity, but disciplined change within a fixed framework
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Movement of the argument: Hanifiyya is disciplined movement within limits.
- Central terms: Hanifiyya, limits, time and place, constants.
- Degree of centrality: secondary.
The atom defines Hanifiyya as a flexible religion that does not depart from the constants. In doing so, it explains how change can coexist with discipline, and how religion remains capable of keeping pace with the times.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur’s Book and the Qur’an
- the methodology of contemporary reading
- Hanifiyya
- Abrogation does not occur within the Muhammadan message but pertains to the previous messages
Basis
- Supporting text: “Hanifiyya: movement within limits; a religion that changes with time and place without departing from the constants.”
Degree of documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom is based 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 verbatim.
Its function in the book
Its function here is definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
The intended meaning is to define Hanifiyya functionally.