This axis establishes the presence of history and evolution within the atlas, but it does not present them as a general philosophy detached from the books. In Shahrur, history appears through the Qur’anic narratives, the Sunnas of destruction and injustice, human action in reality, and the evolution of understanding and knowledge.
Accordingly, the Qur’anic narratives are not read by him as mere accounts of the past, nor as a direct source of legislation, but rather as a field for moral lesson, the unveiling of Sunna, and an understanding of human action in history.
Axis question
How does Shahrur make the Qur’anic narratives and history an entry point to Sunna and human evolution without turning them into direct legislation?
What you read here
- Qur’anic narratives for moral lesson and the unveiling of Sunna, not for extracting rulings directly.
- The human being is an actor in history, not merely a recipient of it.
- Evolution appears in the human being’s understanding of self and relation to the world, not in reproducing the text.
- Isra’iliyyat are rejected because they obscure the function of the Qur’anic narratives.
- Historical Sunna links human action with consequence.
Central links
- Qur’anic narratives and history
- Being, Process, and Becoming
- Freedom, the Human Being, and Responsibility
- The Method of Contemporary Reading
- History
- Knowledge
- Destiny
- Process
- Becoming
- Qur’anic narratives
Books and loci
- Qur’anic Narratives, vol. 1
- Qur’anic Narratives, vol. 2
- The Qur’anic narratives explain history and reveal its Sunna instead of legislating
- The human being is the agent of evolving history
- Understanding religion and legislation rests on the triad of being, process, and becoming
- Joseph 111
- Hud 120
- Al-Baqarah 30