Religion, the Message, and the General Meaning of Revelation
Formulation of the claim
Religion is one, and Islam is its general name, while the Muhammadan message came to specify it and organize it into a historical, applicable form.
Why do these elements come together?
These elements revolve around distinguishing between religion as the total truth and the message as the historical, legislative formulation. They also bring together the priority of Islam over faith, along with the universality and finality of the Muhammadan message. They likewise affirm that the Qur’an is part of the Book, and that revelation, remembrance, and conveyance each have distinct, non-synonymous functions. All of this forms a single axis for Shahrur: the total meaning of religion and then its revelation in the discourse of the message.
Elements of the collection
- Religion is one and Islam is the name of this religion
- Islam comes before faith
- Islam precedes Muhammad’s mission
- Islam is one religion in the universe
- Islam is one religion and its value is universal
- Islam is belief in the one God together with righteous action
- Faith is narrower than Islam
- Faith is belonging to the Muhammadan message
- Faith is submission that is not based on direct observation
- The Muhammadan message is universal
- Muhammad’s law is universal, final, and a human organization
- Finality, mercy, and universality - a central triad
- The Qur’an is part of the Book
- The Book is not the Qur’an
- The Book may be a law, a prophecy, or something else
- The Qur’an is to be read as a message of rulings
- The Qur’an is a Book of similar, paired verses
- The Qur’an answers the question of existence and knowledge
- al-dhikr = the spoken form of revelation
- al-dhikr is not the prophetic Sunna
- Sending down and revelation are not synonymous
- Sending down preceded revelation in al-dhikr
- The Wise Revelation is a Book open to renewed reading
- Conveyance is not filler but communication
- Elucidation is not conveyance
The collection’s location in the episodes
In episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 13
Conclusion
This collection establishes, for Shahrur, a separation between religion as a totality and the historical prophetic formulation, while highlighting the universality of the Muhammadan message.