Intended meaning
Shahrur distinguishes between Islam and faith, holding that Islam rests on submission through belief in God and the Last Day and righteous action, whereas followers of the community of Muhammad are described as believers because their emulation of the Prophet in rituals is added to this. Therefore, specific rituals such as prayer, fasting, alms-giving, and funeral prayer are among the pillars of faith, not among the pillars of Islam
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: Distinguishing
- Argument movement: It separates Islam, faith, and rituals
- Central terms: Islam, faith, righteous action, rituals, pillars of faith.
- Degree of centrality: Primary.
This atom establishes a dual structure between Islam and faith, and places rituals within the sphere of faith rather than Islam. In doing so, it gives the reader a key for arranging obligations and religious identity in the atlas.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: A Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation
- Islam, faith, and righteous action
- Islam
- Faith
- Righteous action
Basis
- Supporting text: «٧- The entry ticket to Islam is faith in God and the Last Day in submission, and Islam is based on this premise, and righteous action is the general conduct of the Muslim, and every believer in God and the Last Day in submission who does righteous deeds is a Muslim regardless of his religious affiliation, whereas the Wise Revelation called the followers of Muhammad’s creed (pbuh) “believers” because, in addition to their faith in God and the Last Day like other Muslims, they follow the Prophet (pbuh) in the rituals. Since the differences among religious creeds are based on differences in rituals, every act that is exclusive to the followers of the Muhammadan creed and not performed by others is part of faith in the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh), such as the five prayers, fasting Ramadan, the alms threshold, and the funeral prayer; these rituals are among the pillars of faith and not among the pillars of Islam».
Location of the basis in the Book
- Book: Guide to the Contemporary Reading of the Wise Revelation.
- Location: In the first section of the Book
- Type of basis: Direct evidence.
- Verification marker: The pillars of faith and not among the pillars of Islam
- Reading note: This location matches the atom because it explicitly distinguishes between the pillars of Islam and the pillars of faith and places rituals in their proper position.
Degree of documentation
- Level: Directly documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom rests on an explicit piece of evidence 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 evidence is quoted textually.
Its function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
This is a basic classification entry in the project.