This is a lexical entry that gathers the technical meaning of this term in Shahrur’s work across his various books, and connects its multiple usages.
This entry belongs to Shahrur’s Lexicon. For reading by theme, one may refer to Shahrur’s Major Themes and Shared Concepts.
Meaning in Shahrur
Loyalty is an optional bond that arises from the level of practical belonging, and is expressed in faith, righteous action, and following, not in mere claim or slogan. It is a social relationship with varying degrees according to closeness and commitment, and is not understood as submission to authority or as a tool of exclusion.
Distinctions
- It is not equivalent to political obedience or submission to authority, because its basis is choice and belonging, not coercion
- It is not confined to verbal belonging or declared identity, and it does not turn into a disavowal of the dissenting other or into collective enmity.
Passages from his books
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism: loyalty here is an optional social relationship embodied according to the level of belonging, and does not mean submission to authority. The author links it to faith, righteous action, and practical following, not to political slogans or collective exclusion
What it neighbors and differs from
- Islam is a practical value, not a verbal identity
- Human social life in the Qur’an is based on mutual recognition and action, not on exclusion and hostility
- Loyalty is a multiple social choice, not submission to authority
- Non-exclusionary religious loyalty
- Doctrinal loyalty is linked to faith and righteous action
- Loyalty is an optional social relationship
- Loyalty does not mean submission to authority
- Loyalty and disavowal follow conduct
- Loyalty varies according to levels of belonging
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism requires returning religion to the Qur’an, freedom, and mercy, and stripping traditional violence of its legitimacy