This page explains a conceptual relationship between two poles within Shahrur’s thought, and how this relationship works in the construction of meaning.
Within a Broader Family
This formulation belongs to the field of distinguishing between the positions of the messenger and the prophet in understanding the Sunna. Its witness establishes one aspect of the division, and the broader family presents the relation between the messengerly Sunna and the prophetic Sunna within this structure.
The Meaning of the Relationship
This relationship indicates that the Sunna is not a single type in this conception, but is divided into two parts: a messengerly Sunna and a prophetic Sunna. By the messengerly Sunna, according to the cited witness, is meant what is connected to the message, rituals, limits, and values, and is understood in light of the Book. Thus, this relationship does not merely name the Sunna; it gives it an internal structure that distinguishes between two faces or two different domains within it.
The Two Poles of the Relationship
- First pole: the Sunna
- Relationship: is divided into
- Second pole: a messengerly Sunna and a prophetic Sunna
Evidence
- The messengerly Sunna and the prophetic Sunna via the messengerly Sunna and the prophetic Sunna
- Witness: - The messengerly Sunna: what is connected to the message, rituals, limits, and values, and is understood in light of the Book.
Its Effect on the Knowledge Map
This relationship gains its importance because it organizes the place of the Sunna within the conceptual map and does not leave it as a single vague mass. It links the concept of the Sunna to a division that clarifies its functions, limits, and scope of understanding, and makes it distinguishable within the broader knowledge system. In this way, it helps regulate the relations between the Sunna and the Book, and between what is connected to the message, rituals, and values, and it gives the conceptual network greater precision in representing this domain.