Intended Meaning
Shahrur argues that the righteous deed enters into the structure of Islam itself, alongside belief in God and belief in the Last Day. It is not merely an additional behavior, but part of the value covenant on which Islam is founded, and it is embodied in benevolence and ethical conduct.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: value-based
- Argument movement: places the righteous deed within the structure of Islam.
- Central terms: righteous deed, Islam, benevolence.
- Degree of centrality: central.
This atom links Islam to moral action, making righteousness part of the religion’s identity rather than an optional addition to it.
Links That Help Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur Islam and Faith
- Islam, Faith, and the Righteous Deed
- the righteous deed
- Islam
- benevolence
Basis
- Supporting text: “belief in God, belief in the Last Day, and the righteous deed/benevolence.”
Basis in the Book
- Book: Islam and Faith.
- Location: at the beginning of the book
- Type of basis: close evidence.
- Marker that helps verification: the practical dimension
- Reading note: It serves as evidence because it makes the righteous deed a practical aspect of Islam, not merely a theoretical idea.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies 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 textually.
Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial Note
The atom gives the religious concept a behavioral dimension.