This is a lexical entry that gathers the technical meaning of this term in Shahrur’s work across his different books, and connects its multiple uses.
This entry belongs to the Shahrur glossary. For reading by theme, see Shahrur’s major themes and shared concepts.
The meaning in Shahrur
Ummah: a group brought together by a single pattern of conduct or a single system, and the term may be applied to both rational beings and non-rational beings. In this usage, it denotes a level of social collectivity that exists in its own right; it is not equivalent to nationality or people, nor does it necessarily carry a political, linguistic, or religious meaning.
Distinctions
- It differs from nationality because here it is not built on political or linguistic origin, but on unity of conduct or system
- It also differs from the people, because it is not limited to a human group with a political or historical entity.
- Nor is it equivalent to a bond of multiple affiliation or acquaintance; these indicate overlapping levels of belonging, not the unity of the ummah itself.
Places in his books
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism: the ummah here is a group bound by a unified pattern of conduct, and it may be rational or non-rational. The author uses this definition to determine a level of social belonging independent of nationality and people, so that political, linguistic, and religious connotations do not become conflated
What is adjacent to it and different from it
- Nationality
- The ummah as a bond of unified conduct
- Acquaintance and multiple affiliation produce a group without contradiction
- A group is defined by conduct, language, or system
- Multiple levels of belonging
- No contradiction between affiliations