This is a lexical entry that gathers the technical meaning of this term in Shahrur across his various books, and links together its multiple uses.
This entry belongs to Shahrur’s lexicon. For reading by theme, one may refer to Shahrur’s major themes and shared concepts.
The meaning in Shahrur
The human being in Shahrur is not merely the biological creature, but a higher rank than the human being that rests on awareness and the capacity for knowledge and choice, and enters into the sphere of values and legislation. In this sense, it expresses the human dimension that goes beyond physical description to intellectual and moral responsibility.
Distinctions
- It differs from البشر, which denotes the biological aspect and the material existence of the creature
- It does not equal the spirit itself, but is associated with it as a source of awareness and knowledge, not as a definition of it.
Places in his books
- A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation: Shahrur distinguishes between الإنسان and البشر, and makes الإنسان a higher rank grounded in awareness and spirit. In this formulation, the concept serves his construction of the distinction between the biological level and the cognitive-ethical level in the human being
What is adjacent to it and what differs from it
- Reordering doctrinal and human concepts
- الإنسان is not البشر
- الإنسان is an aware rank, and the spirit is knowledge and legislation
- Contemporary interpretation makes the constancy of the Revelation the basis for historical ijtihad in understanding, legislation, and creed
- Prohibition and human legislation are two separate domains
- The spirit is knowledge and legislation
- What is variable is human legislation
- The limits of absolute understanding
- The method of renewed reading and interpretation