Location of the cited passage: «الاسلام والايمان», p. 169.
What Is Attributed to Shahrur
The cited passage states: «بينما الشهيد يقدّم شهادة حضورية حسية». Elsewhere in the book, Shahrur mentions both “the testimony of the witness” and “the testimony of the martyr,” saying that worldly life rests upon them. This establishes the separate occurrence of the expressions “the testimony of the witness” and “the testimony of the martyr” in the statement, without this passage alone providing a definition of the witness or a complete account of the semantic difference between them.
For further reading: Muhammad Shahrur Islam and Faith and The Book, the Qur’an, and the Mother of the Book.
Atlas Explanation
The atom records the minimum supported by the evidence: an explicit description of the martyr, and the separate occurrence of the expressions “the testimony of the witness” and “the testimony of the martyr.” It does not turn this occurrence into a complete definition of the witness, because the attached evidence does not explain the manner of the witness’s testimony.
Conclusion
The statement may be read as affirming presence and sensory perception as criteria in the description of the martyr in this passage. Building a complete contrast between sensory testimony and inferential testimony, however, is not a documented conclusion here.
Open Question
How does Shahrur define the “witness” in the passage where he contrasts the witness with the martyr? A direct passage stating this is needed before inference can be attributed to the witness or “immediacy” interpreted as physical presence.