This page explains a conceptual relationship between two terms within Shahrur’s thought, and how this relationship operates in the construction of meaning.
Within a broader family
This relationship falls within the field of rethinking martyrdom beyond restricting it to death in war. Its witness brings out the meaning of presence or knowledge, and the family gathers the formulations that open the significance of martyrdom onto a broader horizon.
The meaning of the relationship
This relationship means that the concept of martyrdom is broader than being limited to those who are killed in battle. Martyrdom, according to the cited witness, is not confined to this narrow technical meaning, because restricting it to those killed in combat is considered a deviation from the intended Qur’anic significance. Accordingly, what is meant here is the rejection of reductionism, that is, that martyrdom includes a meaning wider than mere death in war.
The two terms of the relationship
- First term: martyrdom
- Relationship: is not confined to
- Second term: those killed in battle
Evidence
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism via Martyrdom Does Not End with the Dead
- Witness: - It emphasizes that martyrdom and the martyr are not limited to those killed in battle, and that restricting them to this technical meaning is a deviation from the Qur’anic significance.
Its impact on the knowledge map
This relationship gains its importance because it re-calibrates one of the central concepts in the intellectual and religious map, and prevents it from being narrowed within a single interpretation. It links martyrdom to its broader Qur’anic meaning, and severs the exclusive connection between it and warlike violence, which reflects a broader and more precise understanding of the concept’s place in the construction of religious meaning and in critiquing the reductionist uses associated with terrorism.