This page explains a conceptual relation between two terms within Shahrur’s thought, and how this relation functions in the construction of meaning.
Within a Broader Family
This relation belongs to the expansion of the meaning of jihad beyond the image of combat alone. Its witness highlights one aspect of this meaning, and the family gathers the formulations that link jihad to struggle for the establishment of truth, not to military violence alone.
Meaning of the Relation
This relation indicates that jihad is a broader concept than combat; combat is a specific form within it when needed, whereas jihad remains broader because it includes the hardship of duty, striving against the self, peaceful action, and defense of freedom. Therefore, jihad here is not understood as a synonym for combat, but rather as a broader framework that includes combat in specific cases.
The Two Terms in the Relation
- The first term: jihad
- The relation: broader than
- The second term: combat
Evidence
- The Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration via Jihad Is Broader Than Combat
- Witness: - Jihad: hardship and duty broader than combat, and it includes striving against the self, peaceful activity, and defense of freedom.
- Combat: narrower than jihad, and it is the use of force when necessary, especially in defense and in repelling aggression.
Its Effect on the Knowledge Map
This relation gains its importance because it prevents reducing jihad to the narrow martial sense, and places it within a broader conceptual structure linking moral responsibility, inner striving, peaceful action, and defense. In this way, it helps draw a more precise map of the concepts associated with religion, authority, and violence, and shows that combat is not the origin of jihad but only one of its limited aspects.