Thesis Summary
Shahrur presents a reading of al-Mawdudi based on the idea that the concepts of jahiliyya and jihad were transformed into an antagonistic binary. Thus, the two concepts no longer remained within their historical limits, but instead became a tool of classification and confrontation.
Foundational Atoms
Place of Support Within the Book
This reading appears at the beginning of the book within the presentation of modern conceptions of sovereignty, and at the point where the employment of religious concepts in intellectual conflict is discussed.
Limits of the Reading
This is a judgment on the use of the two concepts in a specific context, not on every use of them in the Islamic tradition. The phrase summarizes the book’s direction in criticizing the antagonistic structure.