Intended Meaning
Worship here means voluntary submission to divine sovereignty, not coercive submission. For him, it is based on freedom, because freedom is a condition for moral responsibility and for reward and punishment.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Argument movement: worship is understood as voluntary submission without compulsion.
- Central terms: worship, voluntary submission, freedom, responsibility.
- Degree of centrality: central.
It establishes the meaning of worship on the basis of choice, and links it to freedom as a condition of moral accountability, thereby separating it from the notion of coercive obligation.
Links that help reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration
- Islam, Faith, and Righteous Deeds
- Freedom
- Religion as a free relationship with God that distinguishes between the historical message and value commitment
Basis
- Supporting text: “Worship means voluntary submission to divine sovereignty, and it is founded on freedom, not compulsion.”
Place of the Basis in the Book
- Book: The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration.
- Location: in the middle section of the book
- Type of basis: proximate witness.
- Marker to help verification: from the door of his personal freedom
- Reading note: this passage is suitable as support because it links worship to personal freedom and voluntary relation to God.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: synthetically documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on more than one witness, or on a clear synthesis of closely related expressions.
- Reason for classification: the text defines worship as voluntary submission and pairs it with freedom.
- Limits of reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted textually.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial Note
The formulation summarizes a conceptual definition linked to the aim of freedom.