This page explains a conceptual relationship between two poles within Shahrur’s thought, and how this relationship operates in the construction of meaning.
Within a Broader Family
This formulation is part of the field of Qur’anic reference and the differentiation of meanings. Its witness pertains to a specific issue, and the family brings together the Qur’an’s relation to knowledge, objective laws, plurality, and the distinction between words and concepts.
Meaning of the Relationship
This relationship means that the Qur’an is presented here as a reference that establishes plurality and prevents the monopolization of opinion, authority, or understanding, whether in the political or religious sphere. The meaning inferred from the witness is that the Qur’anic text does not support a closed, unilateral form, but rather opens the way to diversity and multiplicity and resists the tendency toward the forced homogenization of society or thought.
The Two Poles of the Relationship
- The first pole: the Qur’an
- The relationship: consolidates
- The second pole: plurality and prevents unilateralism
Evidence
- State and Society via The Qur’an Consolidates Plurality and Prevents Unilateralism
- Witness: confirms that the Qur’an consolidates plurality and prevents political and religious unilateralism
Its Effect on the Knowledge Map
This relationship gains importance because it links the Qur’an to an organizing principle in the conception of state and society, not merely as a devotional text but as a source that affects the shape of the public sphere and its boundaries. It thus places plurality within the larger conceptual structure organized by this source, and shows how the Qur’an is used in this conception to undermine political and religious unilateralism and to establish the idea of diversity within the knowledge network.