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 particular faith. Looking at it opens a specific angle, and the overarching family places it within a conception of Islam as a human value horizon that precedes the mission and is broader than ritual belonging.
The meaning of the relationship
This relationship means that Islam is not presented here as merely a specific religious affiliation tied to following Muhammad and his rites, but rather as a general human horizon that precedes and transcends this particular affiliation. The intended meaning is that Islam is a value-laden and human framework broader than the boundaries of the believing community, and that it is older than the specificity of the Muhammadan message in terms of conceptual and historical signification. It is therefore not understood as a closed identity, but as an open human structure that includes the human being before being confined to the sphere of ritual or group affiliation.
The two poles of the relationship
- The first pole: Islam
- The relationship: is presented
- The second pole: a prior and broader general human horizon than the particular faith associated with following Muhammad and his rites
Evidence
- Islam and the human being via Islam as a general human horizon broader than particular Muhammadan faith
- Witness: Islam as a general human horizon broader than particular Muhammadan faith brings together this axis between Islam as a human value framework broader than particular faith belonging and Islam as historically and conceptually prior to the specificity of the Muhammadan message, affirming that Islam in the book is not a closed sectarian identity but a general human structure that transcends the specificity of the community that believes in the final message
Its effect on the knowledge map
This relationship gains its importance because it shifts Islam’s position within the conceptual map from being a marker of a specific religious community to being a broader origin for human and value-oriented meaning. This connects Islam directly to the axis of the human being, and makes its understanding an entry point to a more comprehensive conception of the relationship between religion, the human being, and the message. It also sets clear boundaries between Islam as an inclusive horizon and Muhammadan faith as a specific historical form, thereby helping to build a conceptual network that distinguishes between the general and the particular without reducing either one to the other.