Intended Meaning
Shahrur holds that prohibition is not owned by a sheikh or an imam; rather, it can exist only through a new messianic authority. As for the modern state, its role is to permit or forbid, not to declare something prohibited.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: legislative
- Movement of the argument: restricts prohibition to a messianic authority and denies it to a sheikh or imam.
- Central terms: prohibition, messianic authority, modern state, prohibition, permission.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
It determines who has the authority to declare prohibition and who does not, and it separates the religious sphere from the administrative sphere. It is a foundation in Shahrur’s conception of the relationship between fatwa and authority.
Reading Aids
- Muhammad Shahrur Toward New Principles for Islamic Jurisprudence
- Legislation, Limits, and Prohibition
- Prohibition
- The Light Verse sets a minimum for dress and leaves the rest to custom
Basis
- Supporting text: “He states that prohibition is not owned by a sheikh or an imam, but is linked to a new messianic authority; as for the modern state, it permits or forbids, but does not declare prohibition.”
Place of the Basis in the Book
- Book: Toward New Principles for Islamic Jurisprudence.
- Location: in the first section of the book
- Type of basis: close evidence.
- Verifying marker: the state permits or forbids but does not declare prohibition
- Reading note: the text distinguishes between prohibition and the state, and says that the state permits or forbids but does not declare prohibition, which matches the atom.
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 should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted textually.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares the ground for it.
Related to
Editorial Note
The atom clearly conveys the boundaries of legislative authority.