The Intended Meaning
Shahrur sees jihad in the path of God as not synonymous with combat; rather, it is broader than it. In essence, it is a moral, peaceful, or defensive act, and does not mean initiating war or conquest. For him, therefore, combat remains a specific and constrained form of jihad.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: Distinguishing
- Argument movement: It separates jihad from combat and makes jihad broader than it.
- Key terms: jihad, combat, moral, defensive.
- Degree of centrality: Central.
It expands the concept of jihad to include moral, peaceful, and defensive action, so it is not equated with combat. This distinction limits the conversion of jihad into war by initiation or conquest.
Reading Aids
- Muhammad Shahrur, Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism
- Jihad, Combat, and the Critique of Violence
- jihad
- combat
- Lawful combat is defensive and constrained by the aim of freedom
Basis
- Supporting text: “He affirms that jihad in the path of God, in his view, is essentially a moral/peaceful or defensive act; it does not mean initiating combat or conquest.”
The Basis in the Book
- Book: Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism.
- Location: in the first section of the book
- Type of basis: Nearby witness.
- Verification marker: The corrupters are much broader
- Reading note: The passage shows that the corrupters place combat outside its legal description, which supports the atom in broadening the meaning of jihad.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: Directly documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom relies on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Reading limits: The wording above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is transmitted 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
The atom confines combat to one form of jihad, not to its whole meaning.