Meaning
Muhammad Shahrur holds that the Umayyad rulers turned obedience to those in authority and the idea of determinism into an ideological cover supporting their rule. Thus, religious concepts were used to consolidate the existing regime and justify political reality.
Structure of the Atom in the Atlas
- Type of argument: critical.
- Movement of the argument: it reads obedience to those in authority as a cover for power.
- Central terms: the Umayyads, obedience to those in authority, determinism.
- Degree of centrality: foundational.
It critiques the use of religious concepts to consolidate rule and shows how texts become instruments for conferring legitimacy upon political reality.
Links That Aid Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Toward New Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence
- The Civil State, Religion, and Power
- The Conflict after the Prophet’s Death Was Political
Evidence
- Supporting text: “The Umayyad and Abbasid rulers employed different ideological covers: the Umayyads through obedience to those in authority and determinism, and the Abbasids through kinship with the Messenger and the verses of inheritance and bequest.”
Location of the Evidence in the Book
- Book: Toward New Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence.
- Location: at the beginning of the book, within its discussion of the search for a cover of legitimacy.
- Type of evidence: closely related testimony.
- Verification marker: verses concerning obedience to those in authority.
- Reading note: this passage serves as evidence because it identifies the verses concerning obedience to those in authority as among the covers sought in order to grant the claim political legitimacy.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented.
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on explicit evidence 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 evidence is reproduced word for word.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is assertive: it establishes a conclusion upon which the subsequent course of the argument depends.
Related to
Note for the Reader
The atom links religious interpretation to the structure of power.