This is a glossary entry that gathers the technical meaning of this term in Shahrur across his different books, and connects its multiple usages.
This entry belongs to the Shahrur glossary. For reading by theme, you may refer to Shahrur’s major themes and shared concepts.
The meaning according to Shahrur
Testimony is the presence that performs the function of proof and clarification, not merely death in battle. In this usage, it is a cognitive and inferential meaning connected to the truthfulness of the message, and it continues after the closure of prophethood as a path to supporting it through knowledge, research, and public declaration.
Distinctions
- Testimony here is not being killed in battle, nor is it a combat title reserved for one who is killed in the cause of doctrine
- It differs from jihad and combat on one hand; these are acts of struggle, whereas testimony’s function is encompassing and proving.
- It differs from martyr if by that is meant the slain, because what is meant by testimony is the cognitive act or inferential presence.
- It is not equal to God’s testimony; that is an encompassing, present, all-encompassing attribute, whereas the testimony intended here is a human function in clarifying the truth.
- It is not restricted to the slain, but includes every public presence that establishes and reinforces the truthfulness of the message.
Places in his books
- Islam and Faith: testimony in this source does not mean the popular sense associated with being killed in the cause of doctrine, but rather the cognitive or inferential presence according to context. After the Prophet’s seal, testimony becomes the continuing function in place of revelation, that is, proving the truthfulness of the message through knowledge and research
- Fanning the Flames of Terrorism: the author broadens testimony so that it is not confined to those killed in battles, but connects it with public presence, proof, and cognitive meaning. In doing so, he rejects turning it into a narrow combat title and returns it to a broader Qur’anic semantic field.
What is adjacent to it and different from it
- the Prophet
- Shahrur’s rebuilding of Qur’anic concepts makes them cognitive and human
- the combat narrative is not a Qur’anic foundation
- testimony continues after the closure of prophethood
- scientific testimony supports the message
- distinguishing the witness from the martyr
- distinguishing the martyr from the witness
- God’s testimony is present and encompassing
- the concepts of disbelief, associating partners, and testimony in Shahrur are cognitive, not combat-related
- jihad, combat, and testimony are distinct concepts
- testimony is not limited to the slain
- testimony is not being killed in battle