This page explains a conceptual relationship between two poles within Shahrur’s thought, and how this relationship functions in the construction of meaning.
Within a Broader Family
This formulation is part of a field that distinguishes between Islam and specific faith. Seeing it opens a particular angle, and the encompassing family places it within a conception of Islam as a human ethical horizon that predates the mission and is broader than ritual affiliation.
The Meaning of the Relationship
This relationship means that Islam is not presented here as a closed religious identity or a limited collective affiliation, but rather as belief in God and the Last Day, together with righteous action, in a way that goes beyond narrow religious fanaticism. The central meaning is that Islam is understood as an ethical and spiritual horizon broader than mere formal belonging to a religious community.
The Two Poles of the Relationship
- First pole: Islam
- Relationship: transcends
- Second pole: narrow religious affiliation
Evidence
- Islam and the Human Being via Islam transcends narrow affiliation
- Witness: - Islam: belief in God and the Last Day, together with righteous action, in a way that transcends narrow religious affiliation.
Its Effect on the Cognitive Map
This relationship gains its importance because it places Islam within a conceptual map broader than the bounds of sectarian or identity-based affiliation, and links it directly to belief and righteous action. In this way, it helps highlight Islam as a unifying idea that transcends narrow religious division, which gives the conceptual network a human and ethical dimension connected to the general meaning of the text rather than to mere religious classification.