Intended Meaning
Shahrur argues that religion concerns the individual and ethical bond between the human being and God, and is not an area in which the state intervenes. Therefore, the task of the civil state is to protect rights and freedom of belief and worship, not to impose faith or regulate it.
Atom Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Argument movement: It defines religion as an individual, ethical bond with God outside state intervention.
- Key terms: religion, civil state, freedom of belief, worship.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
This atom defines the meaning of religion in Shahrur’s conception, then separates the individual spiritual sphere from the state’s function as protector of rights, not an intervener in belief.
Links That Help Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought
- The Civil State, Religion, and Authority
- Civil state
- Inherited jurisprudence is a human historical construct that does not possess authority equal to the Qur’an
Basis
- Supporting text: “He concludes that the civil state does not interfere in belief and worship, but rather protects rights, and that religion pertains to the individual and ethical bond with God.”
Place of the Basis in the Book
- Book: The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought.
- Location: in the first section of the book within the discussion of rituals and the civil state.
- Type of basis: close evidence.
- Marker that helps verification: visible religiosity is individual and personal
- Reading note: the passage explicitly states that rituals are individual and separate from the state, and makes religion a matter directed to the individual, which is suitable support for the atom.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the wording 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 definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial Note
This atom is suitable for building a clear distinction between religion and politics.