This is a glossary entry in the Shahrur glossary. Its main source is the treatment of disavowal in Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, with links to atoms that distinguish dissociation from hatred and enmity.
The meaning established by the material
The source structure presents disavowal as a regulated dissociation from polytheism, an act, or a position shown to be wrong, not as open enmity. The atoms state that dissociation concerns a matter, person, or contrary belief, and occurs after what warrants it has become clear or after its conditions have been met; it may be described as leaving, repudiating, and turning away.
What is established here is this restriction on the subject and scope of disavowal: the term is not transferred from a specific position to comprehensive hostility toward those who disagree. The available evidence does not detail what warrants it in every case or prescribe a practical procedure for leaving and turning away.
Distinctions and non-synonymy
- Disavowal is not absolute enmity; this is the limit confirmed by the source structure and the defining atom.
- It is not hatred or loathing as a general emotion; another atom restricts its subject to polytheism, an act, or a position and links it to the fulfillment of conditions.
- Mere disagreement or opposition is not enough to establish grounds for disavowal; the references to clarification and conditions prevent generalizing it to people or groups without qualification.
These are distinctions explained by bringing the atoms together. They do not make “disavowal” synonymous with any nearby term merely because the terms occur together in a religious or ethical context.
Limits of the evidence
The defining atoms record the meaning and restrictions above, but they do not provide here the raw text surrounding the quotation or the detailed passage that shows what warrants disavowal and how its fields are determined in practice. The entry therefore does not attribute additional conditions to Shahrur or turn dissociation into an absolute moral judgment on people.
Places for further reading and verification
- The concept page for disavowal in the source
- The source structure on disavowal and its limits
- Disavowal as dissociation, not absolute enmity
- The conditions and fields of disavowal and the limits of the evidence
- Jihad, combat, and the critique of violence
These links are for further reading and verification, not substitutes for returning to the original textual passage. Atom titles summarize their content and are not treated as verbatim quotations.