Citation location: Episode 10: Livelihoods and Lifespans: The Book and Laws, Not Individual Predetermination, at 00:57–01:00. Audible excerpt: «وتحديدا موضوع الاعمار وانها تطول وتنقص وان هذه مسؤوليه الفرد امام ذاته وامام».
Lifespans Are Not Fixed but Change
Source note: This page summarizes explanatory audiovisual material. References to books provide closely related context and are not verbatim evidence; for precise citation, consult the episode and the original book.
Formulation of the claim
Shahrur argues that lifespan is not a fixed, predetermined number, but may lengthen or shorten according to factors related to the person, their health, and their behavior.
Explanation
Shahrur rejects the common understanding that lifespans are “written” in a rigid, unchanging sense. He maintains that factors such as health, physical harm, and illness can increase or decrease one’s lifespan. In this way, he connects lifespan to human action and personal responsibility, rather than to fate in its closed, deterministic sense.
Its place in the episode’s argument
This atom prepares the transition from the idea of the “inevitably written” to that of “law” operating through causes. It lays the groundwork for his later treatment of lifespans and livelihoods as subject to understandable laws.
Scope of the claim
He does not say that a person has complete control over their lifespan, but that lifespan is affected by factors and laws.
Brief evidence
“Lifespans lengthen and shorten… and this is the individual’s responsibility toward themselves and their health.”
Related links
- Shahrur - Freedom
- Shahrur - Righteous Action
- Islam and the Human Being