Meaning
The passage maintains that religion and legislation can only be properly understood through the triad of being, process, and becoming. This triad is presented as a methodological framework linking existence, movement, and transformation. It also prepares for a reading of religion in its relation to the cosmos, history, and the text.
Structure of the Atom in the Atlas
- Type of argument: Methodological
- Movement of the argument: It grounds the understanding of religion and legislation in the triad of being, process, and becoming.
- Central terms: being, process, becoming, legislation.
- Degree of centrality: Foundational.
It establishes a general interpretive framework linking existence to movement and transformation, and makes the reading of the text and religion connected to the structure of change in the cosmos and history.
Links That Aid Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Toward New Foundations for Islamic Jurisprudence
- the contemporary reading method
- being
- process
- becoming
Support
- Supporting text: “The passage offers a theoretical introduction based on the premise that religion and legislation can only be properly understood through a triad: being, process, and becoming.”
Degree of Documentation
- Level: Directly documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom rests on explicit evidence closely corresponding to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of the reading: The formulation above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the evidence is cited word for word.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in developing the idea.
Related to
Note to the Reader
This is an atom of methodological foundation: it does not explain a particular issue but rather presents a comprehensive tool for reading.