Intended meaning
Shahrur distinguishes here between what God prohibits and what is permissible for human beings, making prohibition the sole right of God. As for human beings, their role is to impose constraints on what is permissible according to need and order, not to turn it into prohibited matter. In this way, human regulation is understood as governing the permissible, not legislating prohibition.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: legislative
- Movement of the argument: It establishes that human authority is limited to regulating what is permissible, not creating prohibition.
- Key terms: the permissible, prohibition, human being, order.
- Degree of centrality: central.
It draws a boundary between what is attributed to God in prohibition and what is attributed to human beings in regulation, separating divine legislation from human administration.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur, Religion and Authority
- Legislation, Limits, and Prohibition
- Prohibition
- Human being
- Islamic heritage has become a standard instead of remaining material for study
Basis
- Supporting text: “The distinction between the prohibited and the permissible is fundamental: God alone prohibits, and human beings restrict the permissible but do not prohibit it.”
Degree of documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom is based 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 textually.
Its function in the book
Its function here is methodological; it regulates the mode of reading or inference followed by the book.
Related to
Editorial note
The atom clearly distinguishes between prohibition and regulation, and it needs to be linked with what comes before and after it within the chain.