Intended Meaning
Shahrur interprets “imlaq” as financial or economic hardship, not poverty in its general sense. On this basis, he holds that the injunction forbids killing children in a state of need, and it is also used to ground the prohibition of abortion due to necessity.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: legislative
- Movement of the argument: it forbids killing children in a state of need and interprets imlaq as economic hardship.
- Key terms: killing children, imlaq, need, prohibition.
- Degree of centrality: central.
It links the linguistic interpretation of need with the moral ruling, making the prohibition depend on protecting life from the pressure of poverty and hardship.
Reading Aids
Grounding
- Supporting text: “Imlaq: financial/economic hardship, never equivalent to poverty in its general sense.”
Related Verses
Location of the Grounding in the Book
- Book: The Book and the Qur’an.
- Location: within the final section of the book in the interpretation of the imlaq verse
- Type of grounding: close witness.
- Verification marker: وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ مِنْ إِمْلَاقٍ
- Reading note: This passage is suitable as evidence because it explains imlaq as a specific economic condition and connects it to the ruling on abortion.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: structurally documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on more than one witness or on a clear composition of closely related expressions.
- Reason for classification: the two witnesses explicitly state the prohibition and clearly explain imlaq.
- 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 result on which what follows in the argument depends.
Editorial Note
The atom combines linguistic clarification with legal ruling.