What is Meant
Shahrur sees Islam as grounded in belief in God, the Last Day, and righteous action; therefore, it is broader than mere faith in its narrow doctrinal sense. It is a comprehensive religious framework that is not limited to any particular group, but rests on value-based pillars.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Movement of the argument: expands the concept of Islam to include value-based pillars that exceed the boundaries of narrow doctrinal affiliation.
- Key terms: Islam, faith, the Last Day, righteous action.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
This atom helps distinguish between Islam as a comprehensive framework and faith as a narrower or more specifically defined form. It supports Shahrur’s vision of the universality of religious discourse.
Links That Help with Reading
Basis
- Supporting text: “Shahrur links Islam to belief in God, the Last Day, and righteous action.”
Related Verses
Place of the Basis in the Book
- Book: Islam and Faith.
- Location: at the beginning of the book, within the presentation of the religious comprehensiveness of the value of Islam.
- Type of basis: proximate witness.
- Mark for verification: whoever believes in God and the Last Day
- Reading note: the text expands the meaning of Islam to include whoever believed in God and the Last Day and did righteous deeds, and this supports the atom in terms of breadth.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of the reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted textually.
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
The analytical formulation explains the breadth of the concept, while the witness identifies the direct grounds of support.