Intended Meaning
This passage explains how al-Mawdudi reappropriated the term “jahiliyyah” to describe modern Western societies, not only the period of the Arabs before Islam. What he meant was that these societies are based on desires and whim and distance themselves from the Islamic method. In this way, the term shifts from its historical meaning to a critical judgment on a contemporary way of life.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: critical
- Movement of the argument: It shifts the term from its historical signification to a tool of critique for a contemporary mode.
- Central terms: jahiliyyah, the West, the method, desires.
- Degree of centrality: secondary.
It shows how an old concept is reused to carry judgment on a different present, so the atom becomes an example of the reappropriation of terminology in cultural critique.
Links That Help Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur, Religion and Authority
- Critique of heritage, jurisprudence, and exegesis
- Islamic heritage has become a standard instead of remaining a subject of study
Support
- Supporting text: “1- Al-Mawdudi was able to employ the concept of “jahiliyyah” to express his condemnation of the ways of life in Western societies, which he sees as not conforming to the Islamic system. With his new concept, he went beyond the term’s historical meaning, which the Arabs used to denote the Arabs’ life before Islam by jahiliyyah. He takes the term out of history’s wardrobe and dresses it in a new concept with which he describes the life of Western societies, which he sees as jahiliyyah to the core because they are based on desires and whim, and in contrast are distant from the method”.
Place of Support in the Book
- Book: Religion and Authority.
- Location: at the beginning of the book
- Type of support: close witness.
- Verifying marker: takes the term out of history’s wardrobe
- Reading note: It works as support because it explains how the concept of jahiliyyah was used to describe contemporary ways of life that do not conform to the Islamic method.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of 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 word for word.
Its 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
It should be noted that what is meant here is the presentation of a transmitted position, not a direct adoption by the author.