Intended Meaning
Shahrur does not present Qur’anic loyalty as obedience to the ruler. Rather, he places it within a relationship of faith and conduct with God, the Messenger, and those who believe.
What Is Attributed to Shahrur
Shahrur says: “Qur’anic loyalty does not mean submission to the ruler, but rather a bond of faith and conduct with God, the Messenger, and those who believe.”
Elsewhere, he links collective loyalty to similarity of conduct, and says that the name of this group in the Wise Revelation is an “ummah.”
Atlas Explanation
The decisive distinction in the statement is between “loyalty” and “submission to the ruler”: the former is not defined by the latter. The established description of loyalty in this passage is a bond with two dimensions: faith and conduct.
Synthetic Inference
This distinction can be read as preventing loyalty, in this context, from being turned into absolute political compliance. This is an inference drawn from the negation of submission to the ruler, not an additional definition of loyalty.
Open Question and Limits of the Evidence
The passage alone does not explain how Shahrur applies this distinction to all forms of relationship with the ruler or authority. Nor is it sufficient on its own to determine the detailed technical meaning intended by the phrase “those who believe.”
For the broader context: Muhammad Shahrur Taming the Sources of Terrorism, The Civil State, Religion, and Authority, and Loyalty.