What is meant
Fighting here is narrower than jihad; it is the use of force when necessary, especially in defense and in repelling aggression. Therefore, it is legitimate fighting so long as its aim is to repel assault, not to initiate it, and it remains constrained by the requirements of necessity and circumstance.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: legislative
- Argument movement: makes fighting legitimate when necessary, as self-defense and repelling aggression.
- Central terms: fighting, jihad, necessity, defense, aggression.
- Degree of centrality: pivotal.
It links the use of force to a specific purpose, and therefore does not equate fighting with aggression. This restricts military action by the condition of need and response, not initiation.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur, Mother of the Book and Its Elaboration
- Jihad, Fighting, and Critique of Violence
- fighting
- jihad
- Religion is a free relationship with God that distinguishes between the historical message and value commitment
Basis
- Supporting text: “Fighting: narrower than jihad; it is the use of force when necessary, especially in defense and repelling aggression.”
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 reading: the wording above is an analytical summary and is not treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is explicitly verbatim.
Its function in the book
Its function here is definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
The atom formulates a juristic limit within the meaning of fighting.