What is intended
Fahisha here is defined as whatever the sound human nature dislikes; it is not confined to outward acts alone, but includes both the apparent and the hidden. Thus, the concept points to everything that sound nature deems repugnant in word, deed, or intention.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Argument movement: it defines fahisha as what human nature dislikes in both the apparent and the hidden.
- Key terms: fahisha, sound human nature, the apparent, the hidden.
- Degree of centrality: central.
It resets the meaning of fahisha according to the criterion of human nature, so it does not restrict it to outward action alone, but also includes what corrupts intention and inwardness.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Umm al-Kitab and Its Elaboration
- Legislation, Limits, and Prohibition
- Qur’anic narratives fall within the cognitive dimension, not legislation
Basis
- Supporting text: «الفواحش: ما تكرهه الفطرة السليمة، وتشمل الظاهرة والباطنة».
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 reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary, and is not treated as a literal quotation unless the witness is cited verbatim.
Its function in the book
Its function here is definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
The meaning is not confined to the form of outward behavior.