What is meant
Shahrur presents Islam as a universal value-based religion founded on monotheism. For him, it is not a merely formal affiliation, but a system of values that accords with human nature and safeguards freedom and dignity. Therefore, religion directs human beings toward what restores their humanity before any historical or ritual particularity.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Movement of the argument: defines Islam as a universal value-based religion.
- Key terms: Islam, universal religion, values, monotheism.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
The atom defines Islam in a universal sense based on monotheism and values, separating it from the boundaries of narrow identity and linking it to the well-being of human beings in general.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: Islam and Human
- Islam, faith, and righteous action
- Islam
- Islam precedes the specificities of the Muhammadan message historically and conceptually
Grounding
- Supporting text: “The passage presents Islam as a universal value-based religion founded on monotheism.”
Place of grounding in the book
- Book: Islam and Human.
- Location: at the beginning of the book
- Type of grounding: close evidence.
- Verification marker: its human values
- Reading note: the passage highlights freedom, dignity, and human values as a religious essence, which is close to the atom.
Degree of documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted verbatim.
Its function in the book
Its function here is definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
The atom is foundational in Shahrur’s conception of Islam.