This is a lexical entry that brings together the technical meaning of this term in Shahrur across his various books and relates its multiple usages.
This entry belongs to Shahrur’s glossary. For reading by theme, see Shahrur’s major themes and shared concepts.
The meaning in Shahrur
A concept in Muhammad Shahrur that denotes a historical and social law based on interaction and resistance between groups and ideas, thereby driving movement and change and preventing stagnation. It is understood as a framework for preserving plurality and coexistence and linking human action to the development of history, not as a justification for violence or an inescapable fate.
Distinctions
- It is not equivalent to the idea of violent conflict; for al-tadāfuʿ is broader than armed confrontation and closer to a law of social movement
- It is not to be confused with the concept of determinism; rather, it leaves room for human agency and is understood within a conception that links development to choice and responsibility.
Places in his books
- The Qur’anic Narrative, vol. 1: Used by Muhammad Shahrur to explain the movement of history and preserve plurality and coexistence, not to justify violence or determinism. It is part of a framework that links the religious text to social development and human action
What it neighbors and differs from
- Islam as a universal human message
- the Sunna and al-tadāfuʿ as tools for understanding development