What is meant
Shahrur maintains that the pillars of Islam are three: belief in God, belief in the Last Day, and righteous action or ihsan He presents them as the foundation upon which Islam stands in this book
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Movement of the argument: Islam is defined through three value-based pillars.
- Key terms: Islam, belief in God, the Last Day, righteous action, ihsan.
- Degree of centrality: central.
A redefinition of Islam’s foundation in doctrinal and behavioral elements, so that the religious structure becomes based on a value-based meaning rather than merely a ritual form.
Reading aids
Grounding
- Supporting text: “He makes the pillars of Islam three: belief in God, belief in the Last Day, and righteous action/ihsan”.
Place of grounding in the book
- Book: Islam and Faith.
- Location: at the beginning of the book
- Type of grounding: close supporting evidence.
- Marker for verification: three pillars
- Reading note: The passage is suitable because it explicitly states that Islam stands on three pillars, which matches the atom in terms of the general 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 wording above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted verbatim.
Function in the book
Its function here is declarative; it establishes a result upon which what follows in the course of the argument depends.
Related to
Editorial note
The atom distinguishes between doctrinal definition and formal affiliation.