This lexicon entry brings together the technical meaning of this term in Shahrur’s various books and connects its multiple usages.
This entry belongs to the Shahrur Lexicon. For reading by theme, see Shahrur’s Major Topics and Shared Concepts.
Meaning in Shahrur
National loyalty is affiliation with the nation as a community of shared language, culture, and memory; from it derive the preservation of identity and the protection of the mother tongue. Yet it is not made a bond superior to citizenship, nor a substitute for the legal and political contract that regulates the relationship with the civil state.
Distinctions
- It differs from citizenship in that it is a cultural and identity-based affiliation, whereas citizenship is a legal-political bond that defines rights and duties.
- It differs from religious or faith-based loyalties, which are understood on a value-based foundation, because it rests here on national affiliation rather than on a criterion of belief.
Passages from His Books
- Islam and the Human Being: National loyalty is presented as an affiliation that preserves the mother tongue and cultural identity. Yet it remains subordinate to citizenship and does not supersede the legal and political contract that binds the citizen to the civil state.
Related and Contrasting Concepts
- Citizenship
- The distinction between dhanb, sayyi’a, and khaṭī’a distributes responsibility among forgiveness, reform, and persistence.
- National loyalty preserves identity.
- The concepts of loyalty, unbelief, and associationism are reread on a value-based rather than identity-based foundation.