Intended Meaning

Shahrur holds that the transfer of family authority from motherhood to fatherhood was not a random shift, but was connected to changes in property, power, and subsistence needs. Thus, the change in family structure becomes a direct result of changes in the material conditions of life

The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas

  • Type of argument: historical
  • Argument movement: links the transfer of the family from matriarchy to patriarchy to shifts in property and power.
  • Key terms: patriarchy, matriarchy, property, power.
  • Degree of centrality: subsidiary.

It explains the change in family structure as a result of a transformation in material conditions, not merely as a moral or customary shift detached from history.

Basis

  • Supporting text: «تحولها من الأمومة إلى الأبوة بتغيرات في الملكية والقوة والحاجات المعيشية».

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 the 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 declarative; it establishes a result on which what follows in the argument depends.

Editorial Note

The atom is subsidiary because it explains a specific social context within his broader view of history.