This page explains a conceptual relationship between two terms within Shahrur’s thought, and how this relationship works 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 broader family places it within a conception of Islam as a human value horizon that predates the mission and is wider than ritual belonging.
Meaning of the Relationship
This relationship means that Islam is not confined to the moment of the Muhammadan mission, nor does it begin with it as a new religious phenomenon; rather, it precedes it historically and conceptually. The meaning here is that Islam is understood as a general human relationship with God, existing before the specificity of the Muhammadan message, and that what came with the mission defines the form of faith and following within a broader framework that is prior to that general meaning.
The Two Terms of the Relationship
- First term: Islam
- Relationship: precedes
- Second term: the Muhammadan mission as a general human relationship with God, distinct from the specific faith of Muhammadan following
Evidence
- Islam and the Human Being through Islam is historically and conceptually prior to the specificity of the Muhammadan message
- The cited passage: Islam is historically and conceptually prior to the specificity of the Muhammadan message; it states that Islam precedes the Muhammadan mission, and that Islam is not an event that began with the final message but a structure earlier than it.
Its Effect in the Knowledge Map
This relationship gains its importance because it rearranges the position of Islam within the conceptual map; it prevents it from being confined to the event of the final message and makes it a prior origin that explains the broader structure of the relationship between the human being and God. In this way, it distinguishes between Islam as a general human meaning and the specific faith tied to Muhammadan following, which helps build a more comprehensive conception of religious history and of the development of concepts within Islamic knowledge.