Intended Meaning
What is meant here by wastefulness is exceeding the measure within the sphere of the lawful, without the act reaching the point of the forbidden. It is not, for the author, the same as extravagance, because extravagance consists in transgressing the dividing line between the lawful and the forbidden, whereas wastefulness occurs within the lawful itself.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: legislative
- Argument movement: wastefulness is exceeding the measure within the lawful, not breaching the limit of the forbidden.
- Key terms: wastefulness, measure, lawful, forbidden, extravagance.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
It establishes a legislative distinction between wastefulness and extravagance, and ties each to a different field, thereby preventing the two terms from being confused in moral and juristic judgment.
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Grounding
- Supporting text: “Wastefulness appears in the Wise Revelation twice in a single context, in His saying — exalted be He —: {And give the relative his due, and the needy, and the traveler, and do not squander wastefully (26). Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful} (al-Israʾ 26, 27). We have indicated in the discussion of extravagance that extravagance is transgressing the dividing line between the lawful and the forbidden. As for exceeding the measure in the field of the lawful without crossing the dividing line with the forbidden, that is wastefulness. It is impossible for the two to be synonyms, exactly alike, because they operate in different fields: extravagance occurs only in the field of the forbidden. As for wastefulness, it occurs only in the field of the lawful.”
Related Verses
Place of the Grounding in the Book
- Book: Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism.
- Location: in the first section of the book
- Type of grounding: direct citation.
- Verification marker: exceeding the measure in the field of the lawful
- Reading note: It works as a direct basis because it defines wastefulness as exceeding the measure in the lawful, and distinguishes it from extravagance.
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 transmitted word for word.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares for it.
Editorial Note
The atom fixes the terminological distinction between two domains of action.