Intended Meaning
Hanafism here is understood as a trait of change in legislation, thought, and customs, not as a departure from fixed values It thus combines transformation in rulings and practices with steadfastness in moral principles
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Argument movement: it makes hanafism a term for change together with steadfastness in values.
- Key terms: hanafism, legislative change, customs, values, steadfastness.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
This atom offers a flexible definition of hanafism, so that it is not understood as a break with values, but as a change in practical forms while the moral foundation remains fixed in the mind.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation
- the methodology of contemporary reading
- Hanafism
Grounding
- Supporting text: «Hanafism: the trait of change in legislation, thought, and customs, together with steadfastness in values».
Place of the Grounding in the Book
- Book: Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation.
- Location: in the first section of the book, within the explanation of the nature of legislation and its variation.
- Type of grounding: close witness.
- Verification marker: the human civil law capable of replication
- Reading note: this passage is useful because it explicitly states that legislation changes according to time and place, which is very close to the meaning of hanafism as a trait of change together with steadfastness in values.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit witness close to the formulation of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary, and is not 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 on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Editorial Note
An idiomatic definition that needs to be made precise when explained to the reader.