This entry belongs to the Shahrur glossary. Jahiliyyah appears here not merely as a historical period, but as a term that Shahrur criticizes when it is turned into a political judgment on contemporary societies.
Meaning in the critique of sovereignty
In his critique of al-Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb, Shahrur reads jahiliyyah as part of a confrontational binary: Islam/jahiliyyah, faith/unbelief, system of truth/system of falsehood. The danger, for him, lies not in the term itself, but in turning it into a tool of sorting, excommunication, and justification for violence.
What distinguishes it
- It differs from jahiliyyah as a historical description of the Arabs before Islam.
- In the discourse of sovereignty, it becomes a political and normative classification of the world.
- It is connected to excommunication when contemporary societies are judged to be governed by jahiliyyah.
- It is connected to violence when it is used to justify establishing a desired order by force.
Foundational links
- Jahiliyyah is redefined to include the modern West
- Qutbist sovereignty divides the world into Islam and jahiliyyah
- al-Mawdudi formulates a confrontational binary
- Qutb turns sovereignty into a takfiri ideology
- Jahiliyyah becomes a tool of political classification
- sovereignty
Limits of the reading
This entry describes jahiliyyah within Shahrur’s critique of political Islam, not every Qur’anic or historical use of the term. It therefore remains tied to sovereignty, excommunication, and violence as the context of this node.